Place-based budgeting (PBB) is very much back on the agenda. Rachel Reeves' announcement of five pilots has prompted others to take the initiative; I've recently assisted Cardiff, West Berkshire and Swansea with exploratory projects, and separately in January a Local Government Association event brought together 70 senior figures from central and local government, the NHS, police and community groups to evolve a PBB methodology.
The core idea of PBB is that all public expenditure in a place is pooled and local public services together with the people who live there decide how best to spend it. The aim is not just greater efficiency and better outcomes: it is the genuine participation of communities in decisions which matter to them. That experience grows social capital – the ability of the community to care for and develop itself.
