Publication - Research and analysis

Fair Work First: policy evaluation

Published: 3 August 2026
From: Director of Jobs and Wellbeing Economy, +1 more … Director-General Economy
Directorate: Jobs and Wellbeing Economy Directorate, +1 more … Chief Economist Directorate
Topic: Economy, Work and skills
ISBN: 9781807753573

An independent evaluation of the Scottish Government's Fair Work First conditionality policy, seeking to understand whether the policy has been delivered as intended.

Supporting documents

Appendix 1. Survey Respondent Profile

The following tables set out the number of responses received to each of the three surveys by various respondent categories. The right-hand columns in some tables are broader derived clusters created by the evaluators.

A1.1 Survey of buyers and funders

base=88

Table 3 How the survey was responded to (survey of buyers and funders)
On behalf of the whole organisation,	37
On behalf of a subset of the organisation (department/function/division/unit etc.)	48
Other	3

One respondent answering ‘Other’ clarified that they buy on behalf of several smaller organisations, whilst two others selected ‘Other’ to clarity that they did not have the basis on which to provide a response on behalf of the organisation.

Table 4 Organisation type (survey of buyers and funders)
Scottish Government	30	Scottish Government
Non-departmental public body or executive agency	21	NDPB/executive agencies
Local authority	17	Local authorities
Public corporation	2	Others
NHS	4	Others
Further or higher education institution	1	Others
Registered Social Landlord (RSL)	4	Others
Other	9	Others

Responses classified as ‘Other’ include other national bodies, a non-ministerial office, or acting on behalf of multiple listed organisation types.

Table 5 Type of engagement with Fair Work First (survey of buyers and funders)
As part of contracts/procurement arrangements only	47
As part of discretionary grant awards only	13
Both	28

A1.2 Survey of employers

base=260 responses

Table 6 Type of engagement with Fair Work First (survey of employers)
Contract holder only	115
Grant holder only	97
Contract and grant holder	48

Table 7 Organisation type (survey of employers)
Public sector organisation	17	Public sector and education
Further or higher education	6	Public sector and education
Private sector	128	Private sector
Registered charity	86	Third sector and other
Other voluntary/third sector	14	Third sector and other
Social enterprise	7	Third sector and other
Other	2	Third sector and other

Responses classified as ‘Other’ include a charity and company limited by guarantee, and a public/private partnership.

Table 8 Employment size band (survey of employers)
Fewer than 10 staff	57	Micro (<10 staff)
10 to 49 staff	100	Small (10 to 49 staff)
50 to 249 staff	47	Medium (50-249 staff)
250 to 999 staff	32	Large (250+ staff)
1,000 to 4,999 staff	12	Large (250+ staff)
5,000+ staff	12	Large (250+ staff)

Table 9 Industry sector (survey of employers)
A – Agriculture, forestry and fishing	11	Primary and manufacturing sector
B – Mining and quarrying	2	Primary and manufacturing sector
C – Manufacturing	19	Primary and manufacturing sector
D – Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	1	Construction, infrastructure and utilities
E – Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	3	Construction, infrastructure and utilities
F – Construction	27	Construction, infrastructure and utilities
G – Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	6	Logistics, trade and supporting business services
H – Transportation and storage	2	Logistics, trade and supporting business services
I – Accommodation and food service activities	4	Logistics, trade and supporting business services
J – Information and communication	14	Logistics, trade and supporting business services
K – Financial and insurance activities	2	Specialised knowledge-based services
L – Real estate activities	6	Specialised knowledge-based services
M – Professional, scientific and technical activities	27	Specialised knowledge-based services
N – Administrative and support service activities	7	Specialised knowledge-based services
O – Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	12	Public sector and education
P – Education	21	Public sector and education
Q – Human health and social work activities	49	Human health and social work
R – Arts, entertainment and recreation	11	Other services
S – Other service activities	36	Other services

Table 10 Trade union recognition (survey of employers)
Recognises a trade union	68
Does not recognise a trade union	156
Don’t know/difficult to say	36

A1.3 Survey of workers

base=888

This survey received responses received from at least 91 unique employers (439 workers chose to specify which employer they worked for, while 449 did not).

Table 11 Organisation type represented (survey of workers)
Public sector organisation	453	Public sector and education workers
Further or higher education	2	Public sector and education workers
Private sector	273	Private sector workers
Registered charity	113	Third sector and other workers
Other voluntary/third sector	34	Third sector and other workers
Social enterprise	5	Third sector and other workers
Other	8	Third sector and other workers

Responses of ‘Other’ were generally supplemented by a description of the industry sector rather than the organisation type, which could not then be back-coded into a pre-existing category.

Table 12 Employment size band represented (survey of workers)
Fewer than 10 staff	22	Micro (<10 staff)
10 to 49 staff	150	Small (10 to 49 staff)
50 to 249 staff	100	Medium (50-249 staff)
250 to 999 staff	190	Large (250-999 staff)
1,000 to 4,999 staff	161	Very large (1,000+)
5,000+ staff	188	Very large (1,000+)

Table 13 Industry sector represented (survey of workers)
A - Agriculture, forestry and fishing	4	Primary and manufacturing sector
B - Mining and quarrying	6	Primary and manufacturing sector
C - Manufacturing	35	Primary and manufacturing sector
D - Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	7	Construction, infrastructure and utilities
E - Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	5	Construction, infrastructure and utilities
F - Construction	25	Construction, infrastructure and utilities
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	2	Logistics, trade and supporting business services
H - Transportation and storage	45	Logistics, trade and supporting business services
I - Accommodation and food service activities	8	Logistics, trade and supporting business services
J - Information and communication	18	Logistics, trade and supporting business services
K - Financial and insurance activities	7	Specialised knowledge-based services
L - Real estate activities	11	Specialised knowledge-based services
M - Professional, scientific and technical activities	145	Specialised knowledge-based services
N - Administrative and support service activities	49	Specialised knowledge-based services
O - Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	193	Public sector and education
P - Education	74	Public sector and education
Q - Human health and social work activities	109	Human health and social work
R - Arts, entertainment and recreation	18	Other services
S - Other service activities	104	Other services
Other	6	Other
Don’t know/difficult to say	17	Don’t know/difficult to say

No further details were provided for responses classified as ‘Other’.

Table 14 Trade union recognition (survey of workers)
Employer recognises a trade union	436
Employer does not recognise a trade union	256
Don’t know/difficult to say	196

Table 15 Trade union membership (survey of workers)Asked only to those workers stating their employer recognises a trade union
Trade union member	229
Not a trade member	206
Don’t know/difficult to say	1

Table 16 Employment contract type (survey of workers)
Permanent/open-ended	808	Permanent
Fixed term 12 months or more	45	Fixed term or other
Fixed term less than 12 months	16	Fixed term or other
Other temporary/seasonal	5	Fixed term or other
An apprenticeship	3	Fixed term or other
Another training scheme (non-apprenticeship)	5	Fixed term or other
No written contract	4	Fixed term or other
Agency worker	-	Fixed term or other
Self-employed/freelance	2	Fixed term or other
Other	-	Fixed term or other

Table 17 Working pattern (survey of workers)
Full time	700	Full time
Part time	170	Not full time
Variable hours, but with a guaranteed minimum number of hours	14	Not full time
No guaranteed hours/zero hours per week	4	Not full time

Table 18 Occupational group (survey of workers)
Managerial	226	Managerial
Professional occupations	328	Professional and technical
Associate professional and technical occupations	51	Professional and technical
Administrative and secretarial occupations	181	Administrative and secretarial
Skilled trades occupations	14	Skilled, service, sales, process and elementary
Personal service occupations	42	Skilled, service, sales, process and elementary
Sales and customer service occupations	18	Skilled, service, sales, process and elementary
Process, plant and machine operatives	6	Skilled, service, sales, process and elementary
Elementary occupations	5	Skilled, service, sales, process and elementary
Other	5	Skilled, service, sales, process and elementary
Don’t know/difficult to say	12	Don’t know/difficult to say

Three responses classified as ‘Other’ were left blank. One respondent gave the answer ‘supply and service’.

Table 19 Age
16 to 24	35
25 to 49	383
50 to 64	304
65+	17
Prefer not to say/not answered	149

Table 20 Disability
Yes, I have a physical or mental health condition or illnesses lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more	178
No, I do not have a physical or mental health condition or illnesses lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more	614
Prefer not to say/not answered	96

Table 21 Ethnic group
White	793
Mixed/Multiple ethnic group	12
Asian/Asian British	12
Black/Africa/Caribbean/Black British	2
Other ethnic group	-
Prefer not to say/not answered	69

Table 22 Sex
Female	520
Male	287
Prefer not to say/not answered	81

Table 23 Trans/trans history
Yes	803
No	10
Prefer not to say/not answered	75

Contact

Email: FairWorkCommissioning@gov.scot

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Information

Appendix 1. Survey Respondent Profile

A1.1 Survey of buyers and funders

A1.2 Survey of employers

A1.3 Survey of workers

Contact