Davy Jones Consultancy

Hands up all the doubters - all those who said it would never take off, it was too radical, too "foreign", or wouldn't last beyond Hazel Blears or a Labour Government !

The latest count suggests between 80 and 85 areas of the country are now experimenting with some form of Participatory Budgeting - and the majority of these areas are controlled by Conservative councils. Even in the South East, there are now PB pilots in 8 areas with a further 8 seriously considering or planning such piloting - more than one in 5 local areas in the region. And the spread of PB has now gone beyond local councils in urban areas - reaching rural areas and parishes, police and fire services, housing associations and community organisations.

Can it survive ?

Yes. The underlying drivers for citizen involvement remain very strong - the public thirst for voice and choice grows rather than diminishes. The scale of tough economic choices and the resulting reconfiguring of local services will require greater public consultation and involvement. The logic of the emphasis on Total Place will lead to demands for citizens to have a greater say on how public budgets are spent.

And there is no sign yet of the Conservative front bench turning its face against PB. Many local Conservative councillors are now supporting PB pilots. Some see advantages in allowing citizens to have a say over tough budget decisions or on allocating their delegated budgets. The Conservative Party "Control Shift" paper proposed a local referendum on council tax rises above inflation. But this is not necessarily counter-posed to PB either. While I don't favour such referenda, potentially they could sit alongside one another.

Now take PB to the mainstream

There are now lots of local areas letting citizens vote on how small pots of money should be allocated. Great. It helps everyone get used to the idea that citizens can make sensible financial choices. But now it has to go further. A number of areas round the country are looking at using PB to determine how large strands of mainstream money should be spent and at how overall financial priorities are determined. That is inevitable and welcome. It is not serious to propose citizen involvement only when the decisions and budgets aren't very big or important ! The spread of PB in the UK now seems assured. Our task now is to deepen it and embed it into the mainstream.