Resource

Be Your Own Councillor

This one hour resource looks at the role local government has in making public spending decisions. Students examine ways in which a fictional town council could spend its budget. They consider the concerns of different residents and analyse how the budget could be spent most effectively. Finally students present and justify their budgets, defending their decision making in front of ‘local residents’.

Lessons KS4 (ages 14-16) KS5 (ages 16-18)

Overview

Aimed at KS4 or Post-16, by the end of the lesson students will:

Understand the role of local government;
Consider some of the competing demands on limited local council budgets;
Develop their teamwork, critical thinking and presentation skills.

Acknowledgements:

This classroom resource was developed in partnership with global business advisory firm FTI Consulting. Their support enabled this specialist resource to be developed and distributed to schools for free.

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