Take Part's 'Community Budget Challenge' at Southsea Carnival 2010

The council's Take Part Pathfinder team had a stand on Southsea Common during Southsea Carnival 2010 to promote active citizenship in the city. As well as giving away the Take Part newspaper and 'How to' guides, the team ran a budget challenge for local people. Each person was given 4 cards, each representing £10,000 and asked to choose between 6 areas to spend the money: Crime, Education, Employment & Economic Well-being, Environment, Health & Youth.


They could put all 4 cards in one area, or spread it around. It lead to some great discussions about the challenges that the council faces with prioritising areas of spend and lots of 'How to' guides were given out, that explain who makes the decisions within the council and the role of councillors.
104 people took part and £416k was allocated over the following areas:

	£k
Health	101	24%
Education	78	19%
Crime	65	16%
Youth	63	15%
Employment, Economic Well-being	57	14%
Environment	52	13%

For more information on the Take Part project visit: http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/yourcouncil/17236.html
And if you have any ideas on how the Council can meet the future budget challenges, please send your ideas to voluntary.sector@portsmouthcc.gov.uk