The Costs of Participation Participation should be part of what an authority does on an everyday basis. As such the costs of participation become tied up with the use of officer time, council facilities and other organisational resources. Openness, accountability and effective communication with the public are at the heart of good local government so there is every reason for the council to devote its resources to such activity. When it comes to a major issue which it is felt may require something other than a cheap and cheerful participation approach there is a choice to be made about cost. Equally a major opinion survey can vary in its costs substantially.
Differences reflect the depth and focus of the initiative that is undertaken.
The issue for a local authority to address is value for money. Underlying resource decisions about participation there remains another choice for local authorities to confront. The special resources approach argues instead for the earmarking of specific budgets in order to establish an identifiable infrastructure for participation. It provides the 'seed-corn' funding to get participation initiatives off the ground and by identifying key officers to lead on participation it can, for example, help to ensure that champions for participation can be identified and networks for supporting changes can be established. The integrated approach runs the risk of participation being lost rather than incorporated into the daily activities of the authority.