Renfrewshire Council

The feedback from colleagues has been really positive, but don't worry if you missed it, as we've caught up with Maurice to talk about our Promise journey and how we are working towards Renfrewshire Council becoming a place where the needs of Care Experienced people are at the heart of all our services.

"When I joined the council last year, I was excited about playing a key role in delivering The Promise for Renfrewshire's Care Experienced community. Since then, alongside my colleague, Promise ambassador Sam Macrae, I have been working alongside colleagues from across the council and our partners so that we can all #KeepThePromise."

Keeping The Promise means delivering on Scotland's commitment to listen to the voices and needs of the care experienced community so that Scotland is "the best place in the world to grow up in" where all children are "loved, safe, and respected and realise their full potential". Read more about The Promise and what we set out to achieve in Renfrewshire.

Maurice is heartened that our Promise journey at Renfrewshire Council is well underway with the recognition that it involves all of us. "It's crucial that all council colleagues and our partners know what it is and understand their role. That's why I have been committed to reinforcing this message so that it is always considered and reflected in our organisation and operational strategic planning."

"Our ever-growing Promise Keepers network are busy spreading the word and I'm delighted by the progress they are making in helping us #KeepThePromise across different service areas. Thank you so much to each and every one of our Promise Keepers." The network currently has around 147 members that include colleagues from the council, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and other partners. If you are interested in becoming a Promise Keeper yourself, you can find out how to get involved and hear directly from a couple of our Promise Keeper colleagues.

Maurice continues: "To help teams and council services assess how they can best support Care Experienced people and #KeepThePromise, we have developed a self-evaluation toolkit in line with key recommendations from the Independent Care Review. The toolkit helps them identify what's working well, and what can be improved or changed while identifying learning opportunities. So far, the toolkit has been extremely useful for teams in education and I'm looking forward to rolling it out further across other council areas and partners soon.

"I'm also really excited to announce the launch of our new Language Policy which we will be sharing with you in the coming weeks. Language is an integral part of The Promise, and this policy will help all of us talk in a positive way. It outlines guidance for acceptable and positive language use across the council and provides non-stigmatising words and phrases that have been identified through consultation with Care Experienced people and relevant staff. "

In the coming months Maurice, and Sam, look forward to hearing from you about our shared Promise Journey, and we'll continue to share progress on Renfrewshire Council and our partners endeavours to #KeepThePromise.

Published on Tuesday 2 May 2023.