North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to consider using participatory budgeting more after a Welsh report highlighted how the process has “fundamentally changed the relationship between citizen and state” in Brazil.
Participatory budgeting is recognised internationally as a way for local people to have a direct say in how, and where, public funds can be used to address local needs.
Questioning the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children in the Assembly Chamber this week, Mr Isherwood expressed concern at the “modest” use of participatory budgeting in Wales and called for the Welsh Government to consider using it more in Wales.
He said:
“In the context of both the budget process and the Bevan Foundation latest ‘State of Wales’ briefing, published at the end of July, which said Wales has the third highest poverty rate in the UK, behind only London and the West Midlands, with ‘little change in the headline rate’, how do you respond to the Public Policy Institute for Wales August report, ‘Participatory Budgeting: An Evidence Review’? They highlighted Porto Alegre in Brazil as the birthplace of participatory budgeting, saying the process there ‘has fundamentally changed the relationship between citizen and state, improved the functioning of government and led to improved public services and infrastructure’, but, in Wales to date, the use of participatory budgeting ‘has been more modest, and the impact has, as a result, been smaller’.
“It adds that in Wales ‘the focus in the short term might usefully be on laying the foundations of participatory budgeting for future budgets, alongside the use of other forms of engagement or consultation that signal an intention to promote greater public awareness of, and involvement in, the Welsh Government’s spending decisions’. What consideration will you be giving to their findings?”
The Cabinet Secretary replied: “I find their comments, as always, very interesting. What I would suggest is that the Welsh Government has been very proactive in this space. By legislating the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, we’ve put a duty on public bodies to have engagement with communities and interested parties. So, I would disagree with the fact Wales is behind the curve here; actually, we’ve legislated prior to any other country doing that.”
Mr Isherwood added: “Actions speak louder than words, and although participatory budgeting is only one of many approaches to real citizen engagement and power sharing with the state, it is central.”
ENDS