The conference, which is being held by the User and Carer Forum on 23 April, will be used to launch the publication ‘The Principles and Standards of Citizen Leadership,’ which addresses issues like the strength of collective action and enabling service users to have power and influence over their own services.  

Minister for Children & Early Years, Adam Ingram said that “there is a Citizen Leader within us all”. 

"Engaging with citizens and putting people at the heart of services must be the basis of service design and delivery.  

“We must all listen to what people tell us they need to give them the best opportunities and outcomes and seek to do our best to ensure that people in Scotland have more control over their lives and the services which support them. There is a Citizen Leader within us all." 

Jane Hope, a member of the forum, said: "I think the Principles and Standards document would be ideal, not just for social workers, but also for care workers and hospitals". 

Another forum member, Thomas McDougall, added: 

"It's going to be a very good tool for people that use services - I'm going to be going into the company that supports me to do interviews and training".