Labour councillors want more people involved in deciding how the
council’s money is spent. So this year, we’re inviting local
people to choose which projects will get a share of
£250,000.
For the past two years, Labour’s won national accolades for the
way we’ve involved local people in shaping the spending priorities
in Lambeth Council’s budget. We’ve done that by holding
open forums where people and service users could come along and
have their say. This approach, know as ‘participatory
budgeting’, involved more people than any other
council. Now we want to take that a step further.
Last year, we introduced a scheme that gives the councillors in
each of Lambeth’s 21 wards £12,000 to spend on local
projects. They were asked to consult with their local
communities and the money went on a range of exciting local
schemes, including computers for silver surfers, youth activities,
and environmental improvements. That scheme, now called the
Local Community Action Fund, will continue this year – so if you
know of a worthwhile local project that needs some funding, go and
speak to your Labour councillor!
The Lambeth Community Action Fund is the bigger borough-wide
part of the funding. You can choose which project you want
funded in each of three bands – worth £125,000, £75,000 and
£50,000. The projects include an upgrade to the BMX
bike track in Brockwell Park, new computer facilities at the Darby
and Joan pensioners’ club, a new children’s wet play area in
Norwood Park or new street signs in Vauxhall and Kennington.
These are all decisions that would have been taken by councillors
in the past – but now Labour’s opening up the doors to the
public.
This is a real step forward for public involvement in
Lambeth. The Lib Dems and Tories took all their decisions
behind closed doors when they ran the council – that’s why we ended
up with a 40% council tax rise and cuts including closed day-care
centres, underfunded youth services and crumbling roads and
pavements. Now with Labour we’re looking at how we can
increase people power. I hope people will log on and have
their say. For information on how to vote visit the council’s
website by clicking
here or return the voting form that arrived with this week’s
edition of Lambeth Life. You can vote any time until 18
October 2009.
New football pitches on Streatham Common - just one
of the options you can vote for in Labour's new approach to setting
the council's budget
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