Luci Penn, Managing Director of REaD UK
Move over Football Manager, Sims and Second Life, YouChoose is an online budget simulator that encourages members of the public to play at being a Council leader by engaging them in difficult budgetary decisions such as making cuts and efficiencies and identifying alternative income streams.
Councils are becoming increasingly inventive at engaging their constituents in discussions regarding where cuts should be made. YouChoose is an innovative way for councils to gain insight into what matters most to them.
Originally developed by London Borough of Redbridge to engage its citizens in the problems that could arise from a reduction to their budget, YouChoose is now freely available to all councils in England and Wales to support the impending cuts on local Government funding. Run as a pilot scheme with Redbridge, the software has had 1,300 responses to date, more details of which can be found on the Redbridge site http://www.redbridge.gov.uk/ under the heading Redbridge Conversation.2010.
In the name of research I decided to try my hand at managing Redbridge’s budget. In order to stay liquid Redbridge need to make a £25m cut to services whilst keeping the council tax increase under 5%. The first option asked me to shave, cut or increase spending in areas like Community Safety, Roads & Rubbish and Education & Social Care. Next, I was able to look at how staff and management are paid and consider initiatives where money could be generated such as increasing charges and outsourcing services.
Although I didn’t save my responses as I do not live in the area my choices were as follows: I cut refuse collections to fortnightly, closed an outdoor education facility, saved library closures and increased parking charges.
I certainly found the tool captivating and quite fun and would be keen to see my council introduce it. They would do well to consider the demographic profile of responders and gain engagement from other profiles in order to ensure a representative picture.
In the meantime, it’s back to my own budget planning!
Councils are becoming increasingly inventive at engaging their constituents in discussions regarding where cuts should be made. YouChoose is an innovative way for councils to gain insight into what matters most to them.
Originally developed by London Borough of Redbridge to engage its citizens in the problems that could arise from a reduction to their budget, YouChoose is now freely available to all councils in England and Wales to support the impending cuts on local Government funding. Run as a pilot scheme with Redbridge, the software has had 1,300 responses to date, more details of which can be found on the Redbridge site http://www.redbridge.gov.uk/ under the heading Redbridge Conversation.2010.
In the name of research I decided to try my hand at managing Redbridge’s budget. In order to stay liquid Redbridge need to make a £25m cut to services whilst keeping the council tax increase under 5%. The first option asked me to shave, cut or increase spending in areas like Community Safety, Roads & Rubbish and Education & Social Care. Next, I was able to look at how staff and management are paid and consider initiatives where money could be generated such as increasing charges and outsourcing services.
Although I didn’t save my responses as I do not live in the area my choices were as follows: I cut refuse collections to fortnightly, closed an outdoor education facility, saved library closures and increased parking charges.
I certainly found the tool captivating and quite fun and would be keen to see my council introduce it. They would do well to consider the demographic profile of responders and gain engagement from other profiles in order to ensure a representative picture.
In the meantime, it’s back to my own budget planning!
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