The old song asks ‘do you know the way to San Jose?’ but the real question is ‘do you know the way, San Jose?’ when it comes to engaging citizens in local authority budgets. The Californian city has come up with a unique way of targeting its population to improve democratic processes through an online ‘Innovation’ game. Councils in the UK and elsewhere are trying similar initiatives, but do they work?An online, local authority version of Sim City, these games aim to capture imaginations while users learn about budgets by putting the responsibility of funding their city’s needs directly in their hands. Players begin the game by examining different areas of council spending and then make a choice over which services should see funding cut or increased. For example, they can choose to make cuts to children’s services in order to spend more on housing, spend less on maintaining roads and more on fire services or simply up council tax.With around 80 per cent of UK residents now online, direct communication is easy and instantaneous with just a click of a button. While presenting information in a straight-forward and fun ‘game’ format may seem like a more effective way to encourage residents to really become engaged in crucial policy choices than the posting of information on a website, these council tax games may present skewed results.One such UK version of the game from YouGov, which was developed with Redbridge and the LGA shows that on average, those who have played it have chosen to lower council tax by 13%. However, if we look at why particular choices were made over spending cuts it is clear that problems arise with the model.Firstly, selections made in the game are influenced by the services those people completing it use themselves. This means that some important service cuts are made simply because the player has no personal need to use them.Secondly, options that sound bureaucratic get cut dramatically, while those that immediately sound like front-line help, are saved. For example, if one option reads that the budget for “services for care of vulnerable people” is £80m; participants will choose to keep it. When more details are given and the option instead reads “services for care of vulnerable people is £70m and salary costs for adult services senior managers is £10m” - the £10m gets cut.The best way to do budget consultation properly, if you wish to involve people in the detail rather than base it on known priorities, is to hold face-to-face workshops for a day. The morning is covered identifying priorities and the issues that bug residents, and an hour is spent explaining the budget. In the afternoon you go through the detail and as participants understand the complexities of the budget and the services provided their minds usually change from their initial thoughts. Reports can then be written to help to guide the council on the decisions madeSince the credit crunch, councils have moved into heavily consulting residents over budgets in a variety of ways, however perfunctory budget consultations can harm credibility so it is essential that the methods used are effective.An important part of communications is helping people understand that tough choices have to be made when it comes to budgets. While it doesn’t take away from the need for local politicians to make final decisions, workshops can help produce agreed thinking between residents and the council.Council tax games can be useful as tools of discussion, enabling residents to become more involved and informed in the working of the budget and while they can work, games around other issues or gaming experiences such as these which set people tasks, may be more practical.
