Commitment
Improve fiscal transparency by making essential budget information available in a user friendly accessible format

Problem or issue to be addressed
People need information in an accessible, understandable form to enable them to understand what government is doing with their money and allow them to participate in governmental affairs.

According to the OECD:
"Governments need to proactively help the general public make sense of the budget.”

The International Monetary Fund in its Manual on Fiscal Transparency states that:
“A clear and simple summary guide to the budget should be widely distributed at the time of the annual budget.”

The International Budget Partnership explains that:
“A citizens’ budget can take many forms, but its distinguishing feature is that it is designed to reach and be understood by as large a segment of the population as possible.”

The World Bank points out that government budgets are technical and difficult to understand and that a Citizens Budget:
“Makes the budget “accessible” and not just available … Facilitates wide and informed debate on fiscal priorities … Demonstrates the government’s commitment to the public and fosters trust in government.”

Objective
Produce a Citizens’ Budget – a short and accessible guide that uses everyday language and is written with the needs of the general public in mind - to help government to explain in plain language the objectives of its budget. This would help meet the government’s responsibility to explain publicly and in plain language, how it is raising, spending, and managing public resources.

Relevance to Open Government
Publication of a citizens’ budget is identified as good practice in international fiscal transparency initiatives. Broadening understanding of the country’s public finances can help to frame more realistic citizen expectations and to build support for difficult policy choices. It can also help to offset the influence of narrow special interest groups and to avoid public debates being conducted in jargon by those “in the know”. Access to information is a precondition for citizens to: understand how a government is using its entrusted powers to tax, borrow, and spend public resources; become involved in informed public debate during the budget process; and hold a government properly to account.

Ambition/Impact
By reporting and explaining budget decisions and the state of the public finances with simplicity and clarity, the government can help to demystify the budget beyond the often necessarily technically complex detail in the budget documentation. A Citizens’ Budget will serve the public and it will also serve the government by enhancing public knowledge about the budget and the reasoning behind the choices made in putting it together.

Category/Theme
Access to Information/Citizen Participation