A SCOTTISH Government minister has been learning how a North-East council involves the public in spending decisions.

Marco Biagi MSP, the Scottish minister for local government and community empowerment, visited Durham County Council to meet representatives of the authority’s Area Action Partnerships (AAPs) and hear about Participatory Budgeting (PB).

The process, introduced in 2011, has won praise from Denmark, the United States and elsewhere.

Mr Biagi said: “The Scottish Government is always keen to learn from success stories like Durham County Council’s PB programme.

“Through PB communities and local authorities can come together to make decisions to ensure public funds are directed at services and projects that matter to them.

“By giving communities the powers and confidence to shape their own futures, inequalities can be addressed by the people on the ground who best know the solutions.”

Gordon Elliott, the council’s head of partnerships and community engagement, said: “We’re extremely proud of PB and how it has been embraced by members of the public. Not only does it give members of the community the chance to have a say on which projects they think should receive a share of available money but it helps us secure thousands of pounds of external funding from charities and other pots of available grants.”