LINks came into being with the abolition, in 2008, of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health. They aim to give citizens a stronger voice in how their health and social care services are provided. Run by local individuals and groups and independently supported, the role of LINks is to find out what people want, monitor local services and to use their powers to hold them to account. Each local authority that provides social services has been given funding and is under a legal duty to make contractual arrangements that enable LINk activities to take place.