Davy Jones Consultancy

The empowerment agenda is here to stay. It is not just a "New Labour gimmick" - the main parties all support greater citizen involvement. And underlying deep-seated social changes - the rise of the internet, 21st century aspirations of having a voice and choice - make going back to the pre-involvement "old days" simply unthinkable.

New media
But it is not just citizen expectations that are new to the 21st century. So too are the dazzling array of new media available. The two are bound to connect. Government is already proposing to force every council to have an e-petitions scheme.

Participatory budgeting
More and more local public agencies are looking to involve local residents in choices over priorities and budgets in these tough times. Transparency in decision-making will be at a premium. So how can new media help? By their nature, new media are more flexible. They allow people to engage at a level and pace that they can control. And new media are fast and can show quick results.

Digital divide
There is one important qualification to enthusiasm for new media - the continuing digital divide. A shocking report by Colville in early 2008 (and quoted in the Empowerment White Paper evidence annex) revealed that a staggering 51% of people earning less than £10,400 pa had NEVER used the internet. Nor had 71% of people over 65. Maybe those figures have reduced in the last year, especially as more mobile phones have internet connections. But it is clear that ONLY using the internet for citizen involvement threatens to exclude the poor and the elderly.

Other "hard to reach" groups
Some of the "hardest to reach" citizens these days are the busy, middle class professionals with young kids. For them, using the internet is second nature and preferable to trying to be free to go to a public meeting. And the housebound - due to disability or caring responsibilities - often prefer to engage online.

PB and new media
I think there is a lot of scope for using new media with participatory budgeting - not replacing the traditional meetings and debates but to supplement them, and to allow additional voices to be heard. I have co-authored a report with public-i on Making Technology Work for PB. If you are interested, you can find it here: www.public-i.info