The Northern Ireland Social Care Council (the Social Care Council) has published its Engagement Strategy 2026-2031.
The Social Care Council is the regulator for all social workers and social care practitioners in Northern Ireland. It is a public body established by the Department of Health to support high quality standards of social work and social care. Through this work we support the development of a strong and professional social work and social care workforce providing quality care and the best outcomes for people who use services and their carers.
This Strategy outlines the regulator’s goal of building trust and confidence among its stakeholders in its work to regulate the social care and social work workforce, to protect public health and safety.
The Strategy expands on the Social Care Councils existing values of respect, integrity, partnership and excellence, through a commitment to a set of engagement principles that define what stakeholders can from the Council, what the Social Care Council expects of itself and what it asks of those who engage with Social Care Council.
Welcoming the publication of the five-year Strategy Social Care Council Chief Executive Tracy Raid said:
“This Engagement Strategy is our promise to those who use social care and social work services and their families, to our registrants and all our stakeholders, that we are committed to genuinely engaging with them, recognising the important and vital influence they have on the work of the Council.
“We believe that through this engagement approach we can improve the experience people have with us, as a regulator. It outlines principles which will continually improve how we engage, inspire stakeholder confidence, create a culture of inclusion, whilst modernising how we work, by committing to learning from others, working openly and transparently and communicating in accessible ways.”
The six principles of effective engagement are:
- Accessibility
- Openness
- One size does not fit all
- Meet people where they are at
- Opportunities for all
- Timeliness