Customised Sliders

The sliders have been customised so respondents can give their views on  a number of different issues relating to policing. There is also the option of detailing how much or what proportion of the budget is spent on these issues to help respondents in their decision.

Explaining Issues

As policing issues can be quite complex, clicking the ‘i’ button next to each issue gives a detailed description to what the issue covers. This should help respondents make more informed decisions using the Budget Simulator, therefore increasing the quality of the responses.

Police Authorities which have used Budget Simulator for their budget consultations include Derbyshire and Greater Manchester. To learn more about the background of these consultations, have a read of blog posts about the Derbyshire Police Authority and Greater Manchester Police Authority Budget Simulators.

For tips and tricks on promoting online budget consultations, have a read of Delib’s Scribd document on 15 Ways To Maximise Participation With Your Budget Consultation or a recent blog post on Even More Ways To Maximise Participation With Your Budget Consultation.

For more information on using Budget Simulator as part of your budget setting process please contact Ben Fowkes on 0845 638 1848.

Offering a Prize-Draw
A small incentive can help drive participation numbers and can increase exposure as other participants spread the news via word-of-mouth and social media. The Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA) chose to hold a prize-draw for £100 worth of shopping vouchers for those who used its simulator, which was promoted on their official Twitter and Facebook page.

Official Websites
Posting a prominent link on your authority’s homepage an easy way to get interested local citizens to engage with your simulator. Further online promotion can be through social media channels, as done by Brighton & Hove, who encouraged the use of the #budgetbh hashtag on Twitter to talk about the budget consultation.

Even more innovative ways which you can promote your Budget Simulator are:

Cardboard Standees
Life-size cardboard standees are a great promotional tool as they’re inexpensive, easy to install and eyecatching. The Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA) are using fifty 5ft-tall cardboard cutouts of their personalised Budget Simulator character placed in local authority areas to promote their simulator.

QR Codes
QR codes allow smartphone users to use their camera to read a code which directs them to a specific website.

Southend-on-Sea placed QR codes for their Budget Simulator on local bus stops but they can be placed practically anywhere. One easy way to utilise this technology is adding the QR code on traditional promotional materials, such as flyers or magazine adverts. To learn more, read the post on the blog post on Southend-on-Sea’s use of QR codes and Mashable’s guide on how to use and make your own.

Press Releases
Press releases in local literature and websites are a simple and effective way to promote your simulator. Alongside the traditional method of advertising in community newsletters and council literature, Southend-on-Sea also managed to get the websites of local schools and blogs of Councillors talking about its Budget Simulator.

For more information on using Budget Simulator as part of your budget setting process please contact Ben Fowkes on 0845 638 1848.

The various methods of consultation used included:

• A video available for the public to watch prior to submitting their views.
• Linking their Budget Simulator from the Councils’ home page and allowing residents to submit their own budget.
• Live public meetings at various council chambers to encourage residents to have their say.
• Live web chats with the Council Leader and other senior Councillors.

For more information on using Budget Simulator as part of your budget setting process please contact Ben Fowkes on 0845 638 1848.

]]> http://www.budgetsimulator.com/blog/2011/12/16/argyll-and-bute-council-use-budget-simulator-as-part-of-their-budget-setting-process/feed/ 0 http://www.budgetsimulator.com/blog/2011/12/06/brighton-and-hove-city-council-use-budget-simulator-as-part-of-their-wider-budget-consultation-process/ http://www.budgetsimulator.com/blog/2011/12/06/brighton-and-hove-city-council-use-budget-simulator-as-part-of-their-wider-budget-consultation-process/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:18:20 +0000 Rowena http://www.budgetsimulator.com/blog/?p=365 Continue reading →]]> Brighton and Hove City Council are currently considering their budget proposal for the next two years and Budget Simulator is being used as a key indicator within this process.

With coverage on BBC News and planned consultation around the use of their Budget Simulator, Brighton and Hove City Council are consulting through the following methods:

1) An online Budget Simulator which currently has 657 completed responses with over 2700 people visiting the site.

2) Ensuring local residents know how to contact their local Councillors throughout the budget consultation coverage.

3) Live question and answer session with a Local Councillor following the option for residents to submit any questions to the Council using their live web casting page.

4) Opening the conversation through the use of Twitter.

Brighton and Hove City Council use Budget Simulator as part of a wider consultation process

This is just one example of how Budget Simulator can be used to supplement a wider budget consultation process.

For more information on Budget Simulator please contact Ben on 0845 680 0575

The Police Authority set the budget for Derbyshire Police Force, and are using the simulator to give local stakeholders the opportunity to make their own funding decisions. Through using their own customised Budget Simulator, Derbyshire Police Authority are hoping local stakeholders will help inform their budget setting decisions.

The police authority are consulting on 12 different areas and service headers range from Local Policing to Police Intelligence. In terms of promoting the simulator, Derbyshire Police Authority already have a link in place to the simulator from their homepage. Further plans to promote the simulator include highlighting the consultation period at up and coming public meetings.

For more information on Budget Simulator or to book a demonstration please call Ben or Gill on 0845 680 0575 or email ben.fowkes@delib.co.uk or gill.crea@delib.co.uk.

Southend on Sea are currently using Budget Simulator to consult on Budget Cuts and are using QR codes as an integral part of their Consultation process by adding them to posters on bus stops:

Interestingly Ofcom recently announced that over a third of adults now use smartphone technology making the use of QR codes especially timely within the Budget Consultation process.

For more information on Budget Simulator or for a demonstration please contact Ben or Gill on 0845 680 0575

However it’s a worthwhile reminder that even with cuts, public sector organisations – especially local authorities, NHS, fire and police – oversee significant spending of taxpayer funds.

Public sector budgets are a large proportion of local GDP, and will remain so. They’re the means by which essential services are provided, and they can be significant drivers of employment and economic growth in an area.

Public involvement in local budget setting is both important and achievable.

I recently found three useful pieces on approaches to setting local budgets, which are shared below – followed by tips and tricks for getting the most from a budget-setting process.

Cook County (Illinois, USA)
First, a trip overseas. I found this really interesting budgeting process “Look at Cook” from Cook County (Illinois, USA)

“Every year our Cook County government budgets and spends more than $3 billion. The County’s budget impacts our lives every day. All of its funding comes from you—your sales and property taxes, your purchase fees on gas, and other goods. All of its spending exists to support you too.”

Look at Cook is a nice site showing the potential to link spending data and budget consultation. Particularly effective is the clarity of the message about the amounts spent and where they go. It would be great to see approaches like this from the UK (know any good examples?).

Community Budgets
Back in the UK, Community Budgets have received a lot of attention recently. Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) have a primer on Community Bugets.

“A Community Budget gives local public service partners the freedom to work together to redesign services around the needs of citizens, improving outcomes and reducing duplication and waste.”

DCLG also have a dedicated Community Budgets site, with weekly updates on progress and development in Community Budgets.

Placed-based budgeting
Also interesting is this piece on place-based budgeting from Office for Public Management (OPM) – discussing localism in budget setting, and the need for strong, transparent governance.

“The basic idea of place-based budgeting is that local government has the responsibility for making decisions about how best to deploy taxpayer money and public resources….local government will need to demonstrate good governance so taxpayers know that public resources are being used properly.”

Read more about place-based budgeting on the OPM blog.

Tips & tricks for involving the public in your budget-setting process
An online process is arguably the most cost-effective mechanism to involve people in budgets. It’s convenient and easy for the public to participate in an online process, and it matches the expectation that services will be delivered online.

For the staff who run the budget consultation an online process also has several benefits, including convenience of working with the data, which is already in an electronic format. Key metrics are also available on demand during the budgeting process.

Walsall Council and South Yorkshire Police Authority both found an online process with Budget Simulator to be highly effective for engaging a wider audience with the budget process.

Online, offline, or both?
Walsall Council identified that an online process got a much higher response rate than a previous paper survey. However, it’s worth maintaining an offline process based around a paper consultation document (or printable PDF), as this provides an additional means of participating.

A paper consultation document can be made available on request to people (saving the cost of mailing it to all households). It can also be used at events and roadshows.

Budget Simulator can be provided in an offline format which matches the format of the online process, providing additional rigour and minimising the costs of data entry from the offline version.

Make sure online processes are widely accessible
There are accessibility standards that must be complied with when running a public sector process online. Failing to comply with these standards is unfair to those who need the support that the standards provide. Failing to use an accessible process exposes an organisation to legal risk as it violates equalities legislation. Failing to be widely accessible also reduces the cost-effectiveness of an online process as it limits the number of people who can participate quickly and easily.

Budget Simulator has been built in compliance with web accessibility standards (see our Accessibility Policy), and is designed to be usable by a wide range of people including those with older computers/software, those who don’t have broadband, and those who have an impairment or disability. It’s also usable on smartphones (including iPhone and Android).

Maximise participation
We’ve been helping councils and government departments run budget consultations since 2005.  Based on this experience we’ve put together a participation guide with 15 tried and tested ideas for promoting your budget consultation and encouraging people to take part.

Budget Simulator Case Studies
Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA) have recently completed a consultation using Budget Simulator to influence their new Policing budget in Greater Manchester for 2011/12. Read the case study.

Walsall Council recently extended their Budget Simulator license to allow local residents to have their say on spending priorities for the 2012/13 financial year.  Find out more.

If you’d like a free demo of Budget Simulator, or just to discuss running budget consultations online, please call Ben or Gill on 0845 638 1848 or email gillian.crea@delib.co.uk

As part of the coalition government’s commitment to reduce public spending, Walsall Council, along with all councils throughout England, continue to face spending cuts which means that decisions need to be made when prioritising allocated spending.

Following a successful 2011/12 budget consultation, Walsall Council used the results of over 500 resident’s views to make an informed decision on spending cuts. Respondents chose to cut spending on planning and building control whilst increasing spending on community safety. Feedback from the consultation was then used to inform the draft spending proposal.

Walsall Council have chosen to consult on 17 areas of their budget proposal for the 2012/13 financial year.  The results will then feed into a more detailed programme of consultation which will take place between September and October.

If you’d like a free demo of Budget Simulator, or just to discuss running budget consultations online, please call on 0845 638 1848 or email gillian.crea@delib.co.uk

One of the barriers to this can be a lack of understanding of where Council Services are currently being allocated. Using our recently launched free Spending App , members of the public can visually see where money is being spent.

Once local stakeholders have gained an understanding of where money is currently being spent they can then use Budget Simulator to inform future budget making decisions. Here are some top tips to maximize public engagement within this when using Budget Simulator:

1. Place a direct link on your council’s homepage to the simulator
2. Advertise the simulator on council hub portals to ensure staff are engaged
3. Brief the local press and ask them to mention the simulator on their website
4. Email your citizen panel
5. Send an online news release to local groups and media

You can find out more information on getting the most out of your Budget Simulator through our top tips for increasing participation guide.

To sign up for a free Spending App or for more information on Budget Simulator and a free online demonstration please contact Gill Crea on 0845 638 1848

“The support in the early stages in terms of designing and building the Budget Simulator was excellent”

David Byrne, GMPA.

Greater Manchester Police Authority used responses to inform the decision making process of the Police Authority Members who  were tasked with agreeing new Policing budget in Greater Manchester for 2011/12. Using a series of newsletters, members of the public and partners were also informed about the response rate and subsequent budget changes. The ability to add comments  into the simulator ensured that responses could be used to inform future budgeting plans.

Recently choosing to renew their simulator for the 2012/13 budget consultation period, GMPA have chosen to use the same  animations as last year in order to provide consistency within their consultation process. GMPA will also be using the introduction of the results dashboard in the latest Budget Simulator to further assist with data analysis.

When asked if they would recommend  the Budget Simulator to others following this yearʼs consultation David Byrne commented “We would recommend the simulator  tool to others and have already been contacted by other partner local authorities who are interested in using Budget Simulator”.

If you’d like a free demo of Budget Simulator, or just to discuss running budget consultations online, please call on 0845 638 1848 or email gillian.crea@delib.co.uk