What is Participatory Budgeting?

Participatory Budgeting was originally developed in Porto Alegre in Brazil as a way to enable local people to get involved in spending public money.

It is now much more widely used and is becoming more popular in this country, with Government backing Communities and Local Government.

Put simply, local people are able to decide how public money is spent. People are brought closer to the decision making process, and this boosts their confidence to become involved in other aspects of public life. And best of all, local knowledge, from the people who know the area best, can be used to shape services.

The main benefits of Participatory Budgeting are:

• Money being spent where residents feel it is needed
• Empowering people to take decisions that really count
• Residents gaining hands on experience of democracy in action
• Building and strengthening community networks
• Increasing residents' understanding of budgets and limits
• Improving two-way communication with the local community