Putting People First

Working together withuser-led organisations

EasyRead version

What is in this paper

Page

What is this paper about? 1

What are user-led organisations? 2

Government guidelines for ULOs 3

Why are ULOs good for people in the community? 5

Why are ULOs good for local authorities? 6

How can you build good relationships with ULOs? 7

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What if there are no ULOs in your area? 9

What if there is more than one ULO in your area? 10

How does the Department of Health support ULOs? 11

1

What is this paper about?

It is good for local authorities to work with user-led organisations (ULOs) This helps disabledpeople, carers and other people needing support.

This paper tells you why it is good for localauthorities and people in the community to workwith ULOs.

In this paper, we will use ULOs when we talkabout user-led organisations as this is what mostpeople call them:

· show local authorities how they can buildimportant relationships with ULOs

· tell local authorities what support theDepartment of Health will give them

· show local authorities where they can gofor more information about ULOs.

This paper is for top managers in social services,commissioners and other officers working withULOs.

2

What are user-led organisations?

Disabled people, carers and service users runULOs. ULOs support other disabled people,carers and service users in their community.

ULOs offer a lot of different services including:

· help and information

· advocacy and support from friends (peersupport)

· support in using direct payments orindividual budgets

· disability equality training.

ULOs bring people together who want to see thesame things happen.

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Government guidelines for ULOs

The Government wrote a report called ‘Improvingthe Life Chances of Disabled People’ in 2005.

It said there should be a ULO in each localauthority area where there are social services.The ULO should be set up like a Centre forIndependent Living.

The Government wants a ULO in every area by2010, as part of its Independent Living Plan.

The Government wrote ‘Putting People First’ in2007.

This said that adult social care needs to change.Councils should make sure people have morechoice and control in their lives by putting themin touch with ULOs.

2010

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ULOs run by disabled people play an importantpart in helping other disabled people live theirown lives.

Councils should have a plan to set up ULOs, iftheir area does not have one already.

The National Centre for Independent Living andthe Association of Directors of Adult SocialServices made some rules about Centres forIndependent Living and User Led SupportServices.

They are now making these rules better.

Plan

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Why are ULOs good for people inthe community?

· ULOs help disabled people to live their ownlives.

· ULOs give people the chance to takecharge of what is happening in their livesand their services.

· ULOs follow the Disability Equality Duty.

· ULOs deal with helping people to beincluded.

· ULOs give local communities the chance tobe in control.

Disability

Equality

Duty

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Why are ULOs good for localauthorities?

· ULOs help people with self-directedsupport.

· ULOs give people who are often left out ofthings the chance to learn new skills andfind work.

· ULOs can show local people how healthand social care systems can work better sothey are more fairer.

· ULOs help local authorities to understandhow services affect people. They get onwith different groups of service users andhelp local authorities get in touch with somepeople who are harder to reach.

· ULOs help local authorities to make localpeople’s lives better.

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How can you build goodrelationships with ULOs?

· Find out about the ULOs running in yourarea. Talk about how you can work together,to make things better for people in yourcommunity.

· Understand that ULOs are importantservice providers, because they know whatpeople need.

· Make sure you get ULOs involved in areasthat are important to them.

· Find people in your team to support ULOs.

· Listen to what ULOs have to say aboutplanning and buying services.

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· Get users and carers involved with ULOs.

· Make sure you give ULOs the support theyneed, like training and funding.

· Help ULOs get to know the decisionmakers and get them to take part in makingnew rules.

· Let ULOs help you get in touch with peoplein the community who are hard to reach.

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What if there are no ULOs in yourarea?

There are lots of organisations who are notULOs.

But many organisations want to be ULOs andmay need support from their local authority.

You should think about starting a ULO, if you donot have one in your area.

Get a small group of people together. Showthem how to get in touch with different groupsthat give help and information.

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What if there is more than one ULOin your area?

Get all the ULOs talking with each other.

Find out:

· what they all do

· how they are different from each other

· if they will work together

· what makes them ULOs. (Look at theDepartment of Health’s rules about ULOsto help you decide).

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How does the Department of Healthsupport ULOs?

The Department of Health works with users andsupporters of ULOs to write a local authoritynewsletter called ‘Transforming Adult SocialCare’.

The Department of Health has guidelines aboutwhat organisations need to do to be a ULO.

It has put in a lot of money to set up 25 user-ledAction and Learning Sites.

User-led Action and Learning Sites try outnew ideas and find the best ways of working fornew ULOs.

It helps ULOs and local authorities work welltogether, to give local people more control andchoice in their lives.

The Department is helping local authorities to getthe same skills as ULOs.

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Here are some good examples of ULOs andlocal authorities working well together:

Hampshire County Council is working withlocal ULOs to set up an Expert Users Group.

The group will try to help the local authority makeall the changes to adult social care happen.

Northamptonshire County Council is workingwith a local ULO to set up a citizen leadersgroup.

This group will give help to people who managetheir own support and their carers.

It will give people the chance to say how being incharge of their own support has changed theirlives for the better.

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A local Disabled People’s Organisation is nowsupporting this group.

The Disabled People’s Organisation is helpingwith meetings, writing newsletters and runningtraining events.

A top manager from Essex County Council hasjoined a local ULO for a year.

This will give the ULO the skills they need to setup planning and services for self-directedsupport.

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For more information, get in touch with theDepartment of Health ULO Project.

Phone:

0207 972 3058

Email:

ulomailbox@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Website:

www.tinyurl.com/userledorgs

NCIL website:

www.ncil.org.uk/ulos.asp

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Credits

This paper has been designed andproduced for the Department of Health bythe ‘EasyRead’ service at Inspired ServicesPublishing Ltd. Ref IS368/08. March 2009.

Artwork is from the Valuing People Clipartcollection and cannot be used anywhereelse without written permission fromInspired Services. To contact InspiredServices:

www.inspiredservices.org.uk

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© Crown copyright 2009294323 1p 0.5K March 09 (ESP)

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