A PANEL of people with lived experience of poverty could prove to be “influential” in shaping Renfrewshire Council policy.

An update was provided to elected members on the progress of the recently-formed group.

Recruitment for the project is complete and the team has met formally twice, a council officer confirmed.

The aim is to develop a model of participation which will have a practical impact on local policymaking.

The early signs have encouraged the council, with Annabelle Armstrong-Walter, strategic partnerships and inequalities manager, telling a meeting of the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee a “really strong” panel has been set up.

She said: “I’m pleased to say that this work is going really well. We’ve now recruited the full panel.

“They’ve met twice formally, they also meet in between meetings, so they’ve met a number of times, with that third meeting happening next week.

“We’ll be continuing to support that process and hopefully there will be an opportunity to bring the panel and sub-committee together to explore some of their work in a bit more detail as they progress.

“But I’m pleased to see a really strong panel, really diverse representation of Renfrewshire and also a really committed and motivated group of people that have the potential to be quite influential around some of our policy and practice.”

Poverty Alliance and the Paisley-based Star Project joined forces with the council as part of the initiative.

The role of the former has been to provide expert advice around good practice and assist in effective facilitation, while the latter has been involved in the recruitment, training and support of panel members.

The group will continue to meet throughout the early part of this year and it is hoped there will be an opportunity for it to discuss its recommendations with the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee in March.

Councillor Jacqueline Cameron, sub-committee chair, confirmed plans for her and vice-chair Councillor Graeme Clark to meet the panel.

She added: “We’re looking forward to that at some point in the future. I think it’s important that we don’t lose sight of lived experience.

“I’ve said before when we were undertaking the Alcohol and Drugs Commission work that meeting with the families and people with lived experience was for me one of the most positive and rewarding parts of the commission.

“It just opened your eyes to the reality, the things that you maybe hadn’t considered yourself.

“I think it’s really important we’re doing that work and it’s important for us as a committee to have that link as well.”