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Evaluating the Impact of Participatory Budgeting
The Department for Communities and Local Government and the Community Development Foundation recently hosted a seminar, Evaluating the Impact of Participatory Budgeting in England on Friday 29th January 2010.
This was the first in a series of four Empowerment Research Seminars being run by CLG and CDF.
In November 2008, Communities and Local Government (CLG) commissioned SQW Consulting, supported by Cambridge Economic Associates and GFA Consulting to undertake an evaluation of Participatory Budgeting (PB) in England. This is the first major national evaluation of PB in England. It is examining the process, outcomes, costs and benefits, and wider impacts of PB. It is also gathering evidence on making the business case for PB and provides good practice and guidance for practitioners.
This seminar was chaired by Charles Woodd, CLG and included a presentation on the key findings from the national evaluation from Scott Dickinson and Meera Prabhakar of SQW Consulting; a presentation from Ruth Jackson at the Participatory Budgeting Unit on how the Unit and practitioners are using these findings, and an interactive Q&A session.
Who was the event for?
Policy, research and practice colleagues in central and local government. Colleagues working in the voluntary and community sector and those who work with local authorities and local communities.
Speaker biographies
Scott Dickinson, Associate Director, SQW Consulting.
Scott Dickinson is an Associate Director at SQW Consulting. He has substantial experience in the development of public policy, local government and regeneration. He joined SQW in May 2005 from the Office for Public Management, where he was a Senior Fellow specialising in organisational development. Prior to this, he was a Senior Manager at the Audit Commission, where he carried out studies of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of public services. Scott has also worked for major English metropolitan local authorities, including Birmingham City Council, where he was head of EU funding and for West London Training & Enterprise Council, where he was head of external funding and partnerships. At SQW, Scott has directed projects on Participatory Budgeting, immigration and Local Area Agreements. He is also part of the national evaluations of the New Deal for Communities and Local Strategic Partnerships and Local Area Agreements.
The SQW evaluation framework can be found at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/analyticalframeworkcommunity
For more information on participatory budgeting, please visit CLG's website.
Powerpoint presentation
The slides from this seminar are available - please use the download link at the bottom of the page.
