About us

Who we are

The Think Local, Act Personal Partnership is comprised of over 30 national and umbrella organisations representing the broad interest in personalisation and community-based support. These organisations, through joining this Partnership, have committed to supporting a small central team in working to improve practice in six priority areas; as well as advising and influencing government and other bodies. To better understand who we are and what we do, download our new leaflet (opens new window) that explains our work.

Our chairs

The Partnership is co-chaired by four leaders representing the views of providers, local government and service users and carers: Miranda Wixon (opens new window) from the Care Providers Alliance, Richard Jones (opens new window) from ADASS, Sue Bott from the National Centre for Independent Living and Bill Davidson, Citizen Leader and member of the National Coproduction Group. They work with the Partnership Board to oversee the Think Local, Act Personal work programme.

The Partnership takes over from the Putting People First programme, which ended on 31 March 2011.

Our Board

The work of the Partnership is coordinated by a smaller "executive" of no more than 12 members and meets monthly to agree work programmes and monitor progress. It reports to the wider Partnership which will meet quarterly. Detailed terms of reference for both groups are being developed. The executive group consists of five representatives from across the range of provider organisations (including a representative of small-scale or user led enterprises). There is also one representative from each of the following organisations: ADASS; the Local Government Group; Department of Health; the Social Care Institute for Excellence; NHS; a service user representative; a carers representative.

Board members:

• William Vineall, representing Department of Health
• Andrew Cozens, representing Local Government Group
• Alex Fox, representing NAAPS
• Des Kelly, representing the National Care Forum
• Bill Davidson (co-chair), representing the National Co-production Group
• Sue Bott (co-chair), representing the National Centre for Independent Living and the National Co-production Group
• Frank Ursell, representing the Registered Nursing Homes Association
• Sharon Allen, representing Skills for Care
• David Walden, representing the Social Care Institute for Excellence
• Philippa Russell, representing the Standing Commission on Carers
• Bridget Warr, representing the UK Homecare Association
• Bill Mumford, representing the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group
• Richard Jones (co-chair), representing the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services
• Miranda Wixon (co-chair), representing the Care Provider Alliance

Core Team

The work of the partnership is supported by a small core team:

• Martin Routledge (TLAP Programme Manager - part time, 2 days per week)
• Linda Doherty (TLAP Senior Business and Project Manager - 4 days per week)
• Jaimee Lewis (Senior Communications Adviser - part time, 3 days per week)
• Shahana Ramsden (Senior Equalities and Coproduction Advisor - part time, 3 days per week )
• Chelsea Beckford (Project Support Coordinator - full time)

To get in touch please email the relevant person firstname.lastname@scie.org.uk

What we do

The Think Local, Act Personal Partnership funds a limited number of projects and a small central delivery team; and will be hosted by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) from September 2011.

At its first formal meeting in early April 2011, Partnership members agreed six priority areas for action including personalisation and personal budgets; developing cost effective and efficient solutions; developing the provider market and workforce; building community capacity; improving information to the public and highlighting the importance of coproduction.

Over the coming months, the Partnership will develop a work programme and benchmarks for the sector as a whole to assess their progress in delivering Think Local, Act Personal. To support this, the Partnership will also offer clear examples of innovative practice across the country where organisations and individuals are leading the way in delivering personalised and community-based support solutions.

Terms of Reference

The Think Local, Act Personal Partnership will meet four times a year and will look to host an annual event open to all interested from the sector. The work programme will be supported by the central delivery team, accountable to a Partnership Programme Board comprised of 12 representatives from the Partnership organisations.

• Read our terms of reference (opens new window)

Contact us

Contact us on thinklocalactpersonal@scie.org.uk