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.

The guide shares the knowledge and experience of 29 South West public services professionals from Cornwall to Gloucestershire who have been working together on participatory budgeting and community engagement.  While not claiming to have all the answers, its contributors do have years of practical experience delivering participatory budgeting and supporting communities, mainly in rural areas.  It is available as a free pdf from the Creating Excellence website here, and in hard copy at the bargain price of £5 plus delivery (minimum order 10 copies).  Contact john.skrine@creatingexcellence.org.uk for details.

If that sounds like a plug, well, as a member of the group that produced it, I guess that’s what might be expected of me.  The story of the group is worth telling.  It started in Autumn 2009 with a dozen members from local authorities, as an initiative of the Regional Empowerment Partnership.  The idea was to develop participatory budgeting in the region.  Led by Participatory Budgeting Unit Associate Leslie Silverlock, in Autumn 2010 we ran a sell-out event on Participatory Budgeting, a report on which you can read here. 

That should have been more or less the end of the story, but a group member from Devon & Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service came to the, er, rescue with a small pot of money to run the group this year.  That, and support from Creating Excellence, has enabled us to produce the Guide.  And with your help, sales of the guide – an ideal way, of course, to introduce elected members, officers and community groups to the benefits of community engagement!—will keep the group going for another year. 

So our funding model has moved with the times.  It’s surprising what can be done, when you want to.  Though it must be added—as Dominic Murphy, Creating Excellence’s Executive Director—writes in the Guide’s introduction: ‘It cost very little, but without some regional infrastructure and funding capacity, activity of this kind cannot happen at all’.