About the PB Unit

The Participatory Budgeting unit is a project of the charity Church Action on Poverty, based in Manchester in the UK.

Our focus is to support public sector and community groups in developing participatory budgeting processes in their local areas within the UK. We are the government's lead agency in rolling out and supporting their programme of participatory budgeting pilots.

We want to strengthen the links between communities engaged in discussing local budgets and local authorities and other statutory agencies such as the health services & police, within the UK and around the world.

We believe broader participation in budget setting is essential for effective, democratic and relevant local governance.

We feel there is much to be gained by building our own UK models of participatory budgeting.

Participatory Budgeting establishes a process in which the effects of peoples involvement are directly seen in either policy change or spending priorities. It is not just a consultation exercise, but an embodiment of direct, deliberative democracy.