Youngsters to get say in how council underspend is used

19 November 2015

Children and young people got to today vote on how an Aberdeen City Council underspend of £50,000 will be spent on activities in their local communities.

In what is a first for Aberdeen City Council, the children and young people in the Northfield, Mastrick, Cummings Park and Middlefield areas of the city helped decide on how £30,000 is spent on activities for the over 12s and how £20,000 is spent on activities for the under 12s.

Aberdeen City Council Education and Children's Services convener Councillor Angela Taylor said: "This is a fantastic way to decide how an underspend is allocated and I'm sure the youngsters will make the right decision based on what they want and would like to have in their area.

"We look forward to hearing what activities have been decided and seeing the children have fun with them at a later date."

The initiative is being delivered by Northfield Total Place, and will take a "participatory budgeting" approach, where it will be the young people themselves who vote on which activity they wish to see happening in the area.

Northfield Total Place sought applications from interested parties, and has now received a number of applications.

The young people will watch a 30-minute-long film in the assembly hall, which consists of a video clip from each applicant organisation, after which they cast their vote electronically. Each P1 to S6 pupil has one vote.

The results of the votes is due to be released on Monday.