Research - paying participant expenses and compensating for time: guidance

1. Who this guidance is for

This guidance is for Scottish Government staff who need to make decisions about paying the expenses and compensating people for time involved in research and participatory activity.

Participation and co-production are umbrella terms used to describe how people get involved in decisions which affect or are important to them, or jointly make decisions as partners in a government policy making process. Throughout this document, ‘research’ is used as a summary term for this range of methods – this is because within government, researchers tend to undertake this work.

This guidance provides:

• a set of key principles to follow as you plan and take decisions about paying participant expenses and compensating participant time
• a step-by-step guide for the process to follow when paying participant expenses
• examples of amounts to consider paying participants, depending on what is being asked of participants
• a step-by-step guide for the process to follow when compensating participants for their time
• information on tax and welfare benefits implications

This guidance asks that you can demonstrate that the issue of payment for participant time has been given proper consideration, for example through project management and decision-making documentation. This guidance supports you to consider carefully what it is you are asking from participants, and how best to recognise and support this.

This guidance has been developed by the Social Research Participation and Lived Experience Working Group, and should be read alongside Scottish Government’s Participation Handbook and, where applicable, the Scottish Approach to Service Design. Researchers, public bodies and third sector organisations have provided feedback on drafts of this guidance – we thank them for their input.

This guidance will be updated as required.