In May 2007, a seminar on the benefit barriers to involvement was organised by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, the General Social Care Council, Shaping Our Lives, Skills for Care and the Social Care Institute for Excellence. Supported by the Joint Participation Steering Group, a group of national organisations concerned with promoting and sharing best practice in user and carer participation in social care and health, the seminar brought together individuals and organisations to discuss the benefit barriers to involvement and consider ways to improve the current situation. The aim of the seminar was to provide concrete examples of how the current benefits system is hindering the involvement agenda, and to identify possible solutions to those barriers.