Residents in nine areas to help determine local spending

People living in nine areas of England are to get the chance to influence local authority spending decisions under a "participatory budgeting" experiment. Authorities ranging in size from big-city councils in Liverpool and Sheffield to Dulverton town council in Somerset have been selected to take part in the experiment, which aims to develop new ways to involve local residents in decision-making. Participatory budgeting was developed in Porto Alegre in Brazil. At its most successful, it is characterised by the involvement of a broad base of local people and a substantial budget over a significant period of time . A previous trial in Tower Hamlets, east London, in 2009 involved the allocation by residents of a total £2.4m. Tower Hamlets is one of the nine areas chosen for the new experiment, which will run next year and will be overseen jointly by the Big Society Network (BSN), set up to help make a reality of the prime minister's vision of the "big society"; the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta); and the Participatory Budgeting Unit, a project of the charity Church Action on Poverty. The other eight areas chosen are: Dulverton town council, Herefordshire Association of Local Councils, Liverpool council, Manton Community Alliance in Nottinghamshire, Norfolk council, Sheffield council, Stockport council, and Windsor and Maidenhead council in Berkshire. Liverpool and Windsor and Maidenhead are two of the four "vanguard communities" identified by the government as pioneers of the big society. Paul Twivy, BSN chief executive, said the experiment had captured the imagination of some of the most pioneering local authorities. "This is an exciting opportunity to connect citizens to real local spending decisions."