Asher Craig: ‘We are walking our talk’ in Bristol’s experiment in democracy

The first results of Bristol’s innovative “experiment in democracy” have been released a year after it was trialled.

Through a series of Zoom sessions, the introduction of a citizens’ assembly saw local people come together to tackle the city’s most complex issues.

One year later, the council has published an update revealing that out of the Bristol Citizens’ Assembly 82 recommended actions, 14 have been fully agreed to and will be progressed so far.

The approved actions cover issues as far-reaching as connecting remote areas via public transport, ensuring inclusive access to green spaces and raising aspirations for children and young people.

Tuesday’s cabinet meeting at City Hall – photo: Betty Woolerton

Eight actions proposed by the assembly have been dismissed as unfeasible.

These include bringing buses into public ownership, providing grants for lower-income households and establishing a centralised green housing fund.

Labour deputy mayor Asher Craig told the cabinet on Tuesday that she was satisfied that the council was acting on the proposals.

She stated: “We are walking our talk. We said that we would take the actions and recommendations. We said that we would report back to citizens’ assembly members.”

Asher Craig was one of the main proponents of the pioneering trial in deliberative democracy – photo: Labour Party

Bristol Citizens’ Assembly was tasked with producing recommendations on how Bristol can recover from a pandemic and “create a better future for all”.

The 60-person panel was randomly selected from households all over the city to represent society and a range of diverse experiences and perspectives.

The hope of the project was to re-engage the citizens of Bristol and enable informed decisions rooted in the values of the public.

Between January and March of 2021, the panel’s deliberations produced 17 recommendations and a total of 82 associated actions on three topics: climate, transport and health.

The report outlining the assembly’s proposals were shared with the One City Economy Board and other One City boards for consideration.

As well as the eight actions dismissed on the basis that they would require a change in national legislation, 20 actions are being taken forward only in part and 21 actions have been agreed in principle but are delivered by proxy or alternative activity. 19 actions are still under review and will be reported on to cabinet in six months time.

Each recommendation was carefully deliberated over by the assembly, with a rationale that members felt would “rapidly reduce the impact of our homes on climate change, make changes to our neighbourhoods to make travelling easier, healthier and better for the environment, tackle health inequalities in Bristol”.

The 14 agreed-to actions include increasing support to existing career advice services in school and adult education, engaging with a diverse range of community leaders to better understand different communities and ensuring more remote and deprived areas are served by public and active transport networks.

While the project was a cross-party initiative, it was Paula O’Rourke, a Green councillor for Clifton, who brought a motion to full council in January 2020 calling for a citizen’s assembly to “reboot democracy”.

On why she pioneered the project, O’Rourke said: “I felt that people were disengaged. We were doing consultations, but not giving people the right amount of information, and so they felt that they weren’t able to make good decisions and that decisions were being imposed upon them.”

Main photo courtesy of Bristol City Council

 Read more: ‘Historic motion’ puts decision-making in the hands of Bristol citizens

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