Localism in Action – the South West way

Would you like some advice on how to get local people more involved in local decision making from people in public authorities whose job is doing this?  It’s in the shape of 52 pages of case studies, tools and tips put together by a group of people with no other motivation than a wish to share what they know.

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Neighbourhood planning - will it make any difference

Just thought I'd share a post about new Neighbourhood Planning proposals in the Localism Bill, including a list of the pilot areas in the South West, which is just posted at http://www.southwestforum.org.uk/neighbourhood-planning-will-new-plans-really-make-any-difference

The People’s Budget

Giving people more control over how their area is run is something all political parties say they want, and The People’s Budget is a new campaign to get a much bigger say for local people on how public budgets are spent.  It’s the latest in a series of efforts to interest people in something with a name that is hardly likely to attract headlines and a terrible mouthful to say – Participatory Budgeting.

Persuading local Councillors that their constituents can make better decisions on how to spend money than they can was never going to be easy.  So it’s great that the Participatory Budgeting Unit and others are stirring up more interest in the subject, and using a bit of people power to persuade Councils to move on from using PB just to divvy up small grant pots to taking decisions about serious budgets.  There’s a good discussion on Toby Blume’s Posterous blog.  And there’ll be more here soon, as next week the South West’s PB and Localism Group launches its 52 page guide Localism in Action, which includes 16 pages of case studies tools and tips on PB.  Go to Creating Excellence at http://tinyurl.com/5sv38zz for the flyer, and, from 1^st November, the guide itself.

Speak up while you can

South West Forum’s timely report mixing useful case studies with grim tidings on how cuts are already muffling the voices that influence decision makers (see previous blog post and here) was welcomed at a meeting at Bath Spa University last week of funders and others who support voluntary sector organisations in the region.

A number of funders have been doing their own surveys into how the cuts are beginning to bite, and sounded gloomy – the representative of one national funder said that the cutbacks in funding advisers and support were really beginning to show.

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Who's Listening to the Big Society?

We have recently published a report about the voice and influence of voluntary and community organisations across the South West. It looks at voluntary sector forums and assemblies, and how far they include marginalised groups such as asylum seekers and refugees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities. You can access the report, case studies and recommendations at www.southwestforum.org.uk/whoslistening.

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If it can’t be measured, it doesn’t count

Crying “But we know it works!” doesn’t cut it with bean counters, as community development workers and empowerment enthusiasts know well.  So it’s great to see another shot at turning confidence, engagement, participation and better decisions into brass.  This time the magic words and spreadsheet come from Involve and Consumer Focus, under the name Making the case for public engagement - How to demonstrate the value of consumer input.

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What we know and what works - update

Over 70 people gathered to discuss the past and future of empowerment in the region at this sell-out event on 29th June at the Albemarle Centre, Taunton. Visit the Creating Excellence website for speakers presentations, list of delegates and more.
The afternoon session got people talking about their successes and achievements, hopes and aspirations and generated a long list of resources, contacts and offers (Word file).

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