Yorkshire and Humberside Improvement Partnership working with Voluntary Action Sheffield have set up a regional reference group. The intention is to ensure that best use is made of the knowledge and expertise of service users in the design and delivery of regional policy. The Group will seek to make a meaningful contribution in relation to both
developing regional strategy and local delivery.
It aims to:
- respond to the government agenda around delegating decision making to the regions
- feed into regional policy delivery
- contribute to regional strategy development - representatives of the group to attend meetings with regional development agencies in relation to development and delivery
- ensure that the service user voice is heard by policy makers
- feed into the national strategy on mental health and employment
- comment on relevant parts of the new Department of Health mental health strategy ('New Horizons')
- comment on leaflets and other information produced by key agencies
- ensure we have a proper seat on other agencies' decision making bodies
- build capacity in organisations around responding to people with mental health needs
The group has also worked through terms of reference and priority areas where we might focus efforts. These are as follows:
- Promoting consistency of approach re: permitted earnings
- Addressing issues relating to employers
- Addressing rural issues in relation to employment and learning skills
- Addressing issues relating to young people - in colleges, universities and other education
- Communication - reaching service users who are not part of the group
- Communication - contacting hard to reach groups, including BME communities
- Making communication and partnership working real
- Developing protocols for regional service user involvement
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