Fair Work First: policy evaluation
An independent evaluation of the Scottish Government's Fair Work First conditionality policy, seeking to understand whether the policy has been delivered as intended.
2. Fair Work First Statistics
This chapter briefly sets out the scale of Fair Work First implementation in terms of contracts and grants issued, including trends over time, based on existing evidence.
Findings summary
Evidence points to Fair Work First having become increasingly embedded within procurement and grant pathways. The proportion of regulated contracts awarded by public bodies that contain a Fair Work First criterion has increased year on year from 25% (1,008) of Annual Procurement Reports analysed in 2019-20, to 89% (3,116) of annual reports analysed in 2023-24.
In grant-making, Scottish Government data for Fair Work First: grants awarded – 2024 to 2025 reveal a total of 5,234 grants worth £3.42 billion issued with Fair Work First conditions attached in 2024-25. This represents an increase from 3,914 grants worth £2.67 billion in the previous year, as per Fair Work First: grants awarded – July 2023 to March 2024.
2.1 Procurement
Public procurement plays a vital role in supporting businesses, communities and inclusive economic growth, and is a key route through which Fair Work First is implemented.
According to the Procurement activity: annual report 2023 to 2024 (published in March 2026), the Scottish Procurement Information Hub recorded £17.5 billion in total spend in 2023-24 (an increase from £16.6 billion recorded the previous year). A total of £9.5 billion of that was directed to suppliers registered in Scotland (also an increase on the previous year, from £8.9 billion).
In 2023-24, a total of 17,310 suppliers were awarded public sector contracts through the Public Contracts Scotland platform, with over 71% of these suppliers based in Scotland. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain central to public procurement, accounting for £7.6 billion of overall reported spend and 62 pence for every pound spent on public contracts in Scotland where supplier size was known.
High spending contracting authorities are required by the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 to prepare and publish procurement strategies and report against these annually. These strategies outline how their procurement activity will comply with the duty to consider and act on opportunities to improve economic, social and environmental wellbeing.
The 2024-25 annual procurement reports and associated Scottish Government analysis reveal routine incorporation of Fair Work First criteria across regulated procurements.
Firstly, Fair Work First has become increasingly embedded as part of procurement practice across Scotland. As per Table 1, below, the proportion of regulated contracts awarded by public bodies that contain a Fair Work First criterion has increased year on year from 25% (1,008) of Annual Procurement Reports analysed in 2019-20, to 89% (3,116) of annual reports analysed in 2023-24
|
Year |
2019-20 |
2020-21 |
2021-22 |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
No. regulated contracts including Fair Work First criteria |
1,008 |
1,700 |
1,645 |
2,889 |
3,116 |
|
No. public bodies awarding contracts with Fair Work First criteria |
84 |
95 |
101 |
106 |
111 |
|
Percentage of all regulated contracts |
25% |
42% |
44% |
41% |
89% |
Sources: (i) Fair Work Action Plan Indicator Report 2025; (ii) Analysis of Public Body Procurement Reports & Strategies (2023 to 2024): Report on Procurement Activity in Scotland
The Scottish Government’s March 2026 Analysis of Public Body Procurement Reports and Strategies (2023-2024) reveals that almost all reports (92%; 115 of 125) contained evidence that regulated procurement activity had been delivered in accordance with the principles of Fair Work First. This represents an increase from 84% in 2022-23 and 81% in 2021-22.
The same analysis reveals that more than three quarters (77%) of these reports contained information on the number of unique suppliers that committed to paying the real Living Wage in the delivery of a regulated contract awarded during the reporting period. This represents a reported total of 3,391 unique suppliers in 2023-24, up from 2,694 in 2022-23. Of these, a total of 1,719 unique suppliers (51%) were reported as being accredited Living Wage employers.
Examples of activity related to Fair Work within organisations’ annual procurement reports – as described within the Scottish Government’s own published analysis – include:
- Achieving certification as a Living Wage employer.
- Delivery of Fair Work First training for employees.
- Amendments to terms and conditions to strengthen the application of Fair Work First principles.
- Policies and systems to prevent human rights violations within supply chains.
2.2 Grant awards
According to Scottish Government Fair Work First: grants awarded – 2024 to 2025 data published in September 2025, a total of 5,234 grants worth £3.42 billion were issued with Fair Work First conditions attached in 2024-25. This represents an increase from 3,914 grants worth £2.67 billion in the previous year, as reported in the Fair Work First: grants awarded – July 2023 to March 2024
As noted in the Fair Work First – conditionality in public sector grants: business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA), reported numbers may understate the overall level of grants issued (there are no national sources of information which capture the profile of all organisations receiving grants).
The BRIA reported findings from the Small Business Survey Scotland 2022-23 which found that, in 2022-23, around 10% of Scottish SMEs respondents reported accessing government (from either the UK or Scottish Governments) or local authority grants/schemes as a source of finance in 2022-23. Furthermore, if those proportions were applied to the number of businesses with between 1-249 employees in 2024, it would suggest that around 10,600 organisations would be in receipt of grant or scheme funding of some description. This would include around 8,500 businesses with 1-9 employees; around 2,200 businesses with 10-49 employees; and around 750 businesses with 50-249 employees. SMEs in the Information and Communication sector were most likely to report grants/schemes as a source of finance – 20% in 2022-23.
Fair Work First guidance permits exceptions in limited circumstances, typically where the real Living Wage cannot be applied to specific groups (e.g. 16-17-year-olds, apprentices, or workers on particular statutory training rates). In 2024-25, 176 exceptions were approved, accounting for £385.4 million in grant value. Most exceptions applied only to parts of the workforce, revealing structural constraints in sectors reliant on young workers or trainee pathways.