New guidance sets out how we can value lived experience
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 13th March 2024.
People with lived experience can bring unique knowledge, novel ideas and challenging questions to discussions around the issues they’re experts in – but how, and how much, we really value lived experience can raise significant questions.
Published recently, this new Scottish Government guidance explores these issues, and sets out the key principles and practical implications of paying people who are contributing their time to participatory and research activity.
The guidance starts with the principle that no one should be out-of-pocket, and then sets out suggested payment rates: from £35 for one hour of activity that requires no preparation, and up to £280 for an all-day meeting with substantial prep and responsibility.
The guidance also explores the complexity around tax and social security. HMRC have said payments are “unlikely to have tax or National Insurance Contributions implications for participants”. However, the DWP have said that rather than cash payments, “vouchers should always be used when if you are using incentives for people in receipt of benefits.”
This report builds on work from across the sector, with a recent example of GCVS’s Rewards and Recognition Policy being co-created by the young people, parents and guardians who used family support services. Importantly, GCVS concluded that: “Repeating the process with a different cohort, on a different project would create a different rewards and recognition policy.”
Making sure people’s lived experience is properly valued and compensated is an important step in shifting entrenched power dynamics and facilitating better, fairer collaborative work - leading to better outcomes as a result.
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