MATT JOHNSON is chief executive of Mando Group
A FEW years ago, a new buzz phrase became popular in the public sector: “participatory budgeting”.
It expressed the aspiration to engage communities to a far greater degree in the process that decided where and how public funds were to be spent in their communities. In its simplest form, it’s a pretty straightforward concept.
It became less straightforward in the context of huge services like the NHS, or in other areas where those participating in the budget process had complex and life-changing decisions to make.
I recently heard of an event at a Wirral village hall where Wirral councillors gathered to hear a series of short presentations from groups pitching for some council funds to further their projects.
The audience voted for the projects they felt deserved support. However, their evening’s vote was not treated by the council as a hard and fast result. The audience’s effort to participate in the budgeting was clearly only the start of a process that would ultimately be decided by councillors anyway.
Fast forward a few months and the team behind one of those pitches has just staged a successful weekend of community-based activity, in and around the village, where they tried to fulfil the notion of participatory budgeting. I am not sure whether those who worked to stage last weekend’s events feel part of any “Big Society”, but I am sure events like this bring a greater sense of belonging and commitment to our communities.
Much has changed in our public sector as deficit reduction measures take their toll. Increasingly, we are being told the private sector must ensure gaps in public spending are bridged. With that in mind, it’s likely that the Government will applaud the action being taken by the retailer John Lewis, who this week announced the opening of community rooms in pilot projects running at four stores (sadly not yet Liverpool). These are areas where community groups can book meeting space at no charge, complete with audio-visual equipment.
John Lewis sees the initiative as plugging a gap left by public sector spending cuts.
It certainly promises to do that, and in far more pleasing surroundings than neglected village halls owned by cash-strapped councils.
