Fair Work action plan: progress report - June to December 2025

5. Headline Action 4

5.1 Our Aims

We will work collaboratively to develop resources to support workers to access, remain and progress in Fair Work.

5.2 Delivery Overview

Action 4.3 (in progress) – Publish and drive forward the actions of the No One Left Behind Strategic plan 2024-27.

Work has continued to meet Strategic Plan actions through a number of expert groups with representatives from public, private and third sector organisations and lived experience members. A number of new products have been developed including a refreshed Local Employability Partnership Framework and Guidance for commissioning employability services locally.

As part of our Programme for Government commitment, and our commitment to halving the Disability Employment Gap, Specialist Employability Support is now available across all 32 local authorities which will enhance existing provision. This means more disabled people and those with long-term health conditions can now benefit from more intensive support to access and sustain meaningful employment. This work is underpinned by an uplift in funding of £5 million to Local Employability Partnerships to support delivery.

We remain committed to being transparent and we published our first Strategic Plan Annual Report in November 2025.

Action 4.6 (in progress) – Public Health Scotland will collaborate with NHS Boards to develop the NHS Scotland contribution to fair and healthy work outcomes for people across Scotland.

Engagement over the summer months was split between stakeholders and employers.

With stakeholders, this included supporting the Scottish Government’s development of the Health and Work action plan leading to draft recommendations. These are aimed at supporting workers to enter, remain in and progress through Fair Work, and supporting a labour market that increasingly supports worker health.

Employer engagement included a survey asking about the perception of challenges in delivering fair and healthy workplaces and the support required to deliver Fair Work. This culminated in a business round table chaired by the Deputy First Minister, focusing on the role of businesses in improving the health of the working-age population and the wider benefits this brings to Scotland’s economy and public services. Recommendations from the roundtable will feed into Public Health Scotland activity and the draft Health and Work action plan.

5.3 Related actions across the Scottish Government

Digital (in progress) – Include Fair Work throughout all aspects of the next iteration of Connecting Scotland.

The MDLS Phase 2 report was published on 23 July 2025, which builds on the interim report and focuses on findings from engaging with stakeholders via surveys and from interviews with families in Glasgow and Dumfries and Galloway. Participants identified benefits of implementing a MDLS as well as potential barriers to successful implementation.

Employability (in progress) – Improve outcomes and impacts for the six priority family groups through No One Left Behind.

The latest Devolved Employment Services: Statistical Summary which was published on 22 October 2025, shows that between April 2020 and December 2024 28,030 parents have started to receive support through our No One Left Behind approach. Most parents are aged 25 and over (89%; 24,974). White female participants account for a lower proportion of all participants (46%) but a majority of the parent subgroup (70%; 19,654). The proportion of male parents accessing support has generally increased over time from 18% in Year 2 (2020/21) to 31% in the most recent full year (Year 6, 2024/25). Of parents accessing No One Left Behind support, 20% (5,669) were from a racialised minority, though proportions have fluctuated across time periods and caution is required as some percentages are based on small numbers. 25% (6,897) of parents reported a disability, increasing from 12% in Year 2 to 30% in Year 6.

Health (in progress) – Work with employer groups and trade unions to promote mentally healthy workplaces.

Officials continue to work collaboratively with partners across the mental health system to align the range of support available to employers and ensure our approach continues to meet the needs of employers. A data collection exercise is currently underway to gain deeper insight into the sectors represented within the membership of our employer network, as well as the size and type of organisations involved, to enable us to tailor support more effectively.

The last network event, held in September 2025, had a focus on Neurodiversity and Mental Health: Supporting Neurodivergent Colleagues in the Workplace. The event included presentations from the National Autism Implementation Team and Differing Minds. The next meeting will take place on 29 January 2026.

5.4 Headline Action: Monitoring and Evaluation

The delivery of the Action Plan needs to be supported by a wide range of evidence to ensure that we are responding effectively to the current context and how it will change as the economy and the labour market outcomes evolve over time. We are also keen to draw lessons from other comparable countries to guide our ambition for a leading Fair Work nation, and to understand what works across the different dimensions of Fair Work.

5.5 Delivery Overview

• In September 2025, the Scottish Government published the first Fair Work Action Plan: indicator report 2025 which sets out the most recent data available on the indicators set out in the Evidence Plan. These indicators are used to monitor progress towards the four medium term outcomes set out in the Fair Work Action Plan.
• On 29^th October 2025, the Scottish Government announced their decision to end funding for the ONS local Labour Force Survey boost for Scotland. The removal of the Scottish Labour Force Survey (LFS) boost is expected to have a relatively modest impact on the overall availability of currently publishable labour market statistics. To ensure continued access to high-quality labour market statistics, the Scottish Government is actively exploring alternative data sources, including administrative financial data and other public and private sector data. Stakeholder engagement will be central to this process. A series of sessions are planned throughout the remainder of 2025 and 2026 to ensure that future labour market statistics reflect the needs of users across Scotland.
• The Scottish Government is continuing to work closely with the ONS to support the development of the transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS).
• The ONS APS now includes questions on a broader range of Fair Work-related measures of work quality. Scottish Government Labour Market statisticians are intending to publish the Fair Work measures available from the ONS APS as a standalone output. It is anticipated that this would include disaggregation by sector and protected characteristics, should the data be of sufficient quality to support this.
• A range of evaluation activity is ongoing:
• The evaluation of Fair Work First has been externally commissioned and is live. This project is expected to run until July 2026.
• An evaluation of the Minority Ethnic Recruitment Toolkit was undertaken by Ipsos Mori. Officials are reviewing the findings to inform an updated version of the Toolkit for publication.
• Fair Start Scotland Year 6 evaluation is nearing completion and a final report will be published in the coming months.
• Employability Child Poverty Co-ordinators evaluation has been externally commissioned and is live. This project is expected to run until March 2026.
• No one Left Behind User Experience project has been externally commissioned and is live. This project is expected to run until June 2026.
• The findings from two internal evidence reviews undertaken in Summer 2024 were published on the Scottish Government website in September 2025:
• Unpaid care and the gender pay gap: Literature review of recent evidence
• Disability employment initiatives: review of recent evidence from Denmark and Sweden