Okay, so calling them “community kitties” maybe does the idea less than justice. But, had Hazel Blears used the term “participatory budgeting”, who’d have bothered to look twice at these proposals? The question is Will they work? and do they offer anything beyond the existing myriad of public engagement methods?

There are plenty of doubters. Existing Councillors and traditionalists are absolutely right to point out that the “kitty” already exists; it’s called your local Council. It already has the thankless task of trying to meet potentially limitless demands from very limited budgets, and the process hardly merits a story in the local paper let alone has residents queuing outside the Town Hall for tickets to witness the spectacle! Neither is what’s proposed necessarily mass participation. Nor is it necessarily any more inclusive. It might not even make for better decisions!

On the other hand, here are three reasons why this is definitely worth trying, and might succeed.

1. Decisions about money are easier to understand.