A clearer way to support people
In August 2025, as part of our Involving People Strategy, we introduced our Involving People: Expenses and Payments Procedure to make sure people who share their lived experiences feel valued, supported and know what help is available to them.
Making involvement easier
This procedure makes it easier for people to get involved in our work. It’s designed to be clear, fair and easy to use, so anyone who helps us by sharing their lived experience knows what support is available to them. It helps remove barriers to getting involved and our simpler internal processes makes it easier for us to pay people for their contribution.
Since August, we’ve paid four contributors for their involvement in key projects. These include the approval of Social Work Graduate Apprenticeships and practice learning qualifications.
SSSC Learning and Development Adviser, Edel Walsh led this work. She said:
‘The involvement of people with experience of services is central to our quality assurance processes and we’re genuinely humbled by the level of expertise offered. Most people get involved because they want to help improve education. We’ve always had a budget to pay people, however the new process lets them choose how they want to be paid and this change has been very popular with our panel members.’
What’s next?
We’re reviewing how the procedure is working and making updates in line with good practice across the public sector. Our aim is to continuously review the process to meet the needs of people who contribute to our work.
If you’re involved in a piece of work where payment applies, the SSSC staff member leading the work will let you know.