15 July 2008
A total pot of £90,000 has been allocated equally to Councillors in each of the nine wards in Eastbourne in a pilot scheme of devolved budgets. In its first year, the aim is for the £10,000 available to each of the nine areas to allow ward Councillors to use their local knowledge to spend the money on issues and projects that are felt to be needed by their local community.
In addition to projects identified by Councillors, residents are welcomed to contact their ward Councillors with ideas that they feel will most benefit the local community. All ideas will be considered by the local ward Councillors in relation to a list of criteria to decide how the money will be best spent.
Leader of the Borough Council, Councillor David Tutt says, “This is a fantastic opportunity for local communities to get involved using local knowledge to improve their areas. The aim is to ensure that smaller issues which are of importance to local communities, but which can so often be missed when setting wider Council priorities, can proceed without getting caught-up in red tape”.
The success of the scheme will be reviewed by the Council. If the idea of devolved budgets proves to be popular it is likely to become a regular feature in future Council budgets.
Local communities can keep up to date on the success of projects that have been implemented and decisions made through the Council’s consultation pages for public record.
