Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services

This experimental statistics release is the eighth in a series about the devolved Scottish employability services.

Statistics published today cover the first fifteen months of the Scottish Government's Fair Start Scotland employment support service, which launched in April 2018.

This voluntary service seeks to give personalised help to people who want to get back into work, including those with a disability, additional support needs or a health condition. It also supports the long term unemployed, care leavers or those from a minority ethnic background.

These statistics also cover the first year of the Health & Work Support Pilot which launched in June 2018. This service delivers increased health and employability support for people living with disabilities and health conditions in Fife and Dundee.

Key findings up to the end of June 2019 include:

• 21,943 people were referred to Fair Start Scotland and 13,061 (60%) joined after referral. The proportion of those joining after referral increased over time from 48% in the first quarter to 65%[1] in April to June 2019
• 3,004 participants started a job, 1,328 continued in employment for at least 13 weeks and 649 remained in employment for at least 26 weeks
• 66% of participants reported a long-term health condition, with mental health accounting for 37% of all conditions reported
• 4% of people joining were from a minority ethnic group. Of all minority ethnic participants, 44% were women and 54% were men compared to 34% and 64% respectively of white participants

Background

The full Experimental Statistics publication can be accessed on the Scottish Government's website.

These statistics include new geographical breakdowns for Fair Start Scotland by delivery area and local authority. This includes data for referrals, starts, early leavers, job starts and 13 and 26 week job outcomes.

Work First Scotland closed in July 2019 and Work Able Scotland will close in November 2019. As the services near conclusion, there is minimal change in the data on job outcomes and so statistics and commentary on both are no longer included in the publication. Statistics on both services are still available on the Scottish Government's website.

[1] This figure is not finalised yet, so is likely to be revised upwards in the next publication. This is because those referred at the end of the period may not have had time to start on the service.