Total amount spent on 'Fit For Work Scotland': FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/01086
Date received: 10 April 2018
Date responded: 19 April 2018

Information requested

The following information pertaining to the Health Improvement Division, Directorate for Population Health in Scottish Government:

Fit for Work Scotland (FFWS) service:

1. Can you provide me with the total amount spent on this service from development (inception) (approx. 2014) through to the present day by the Scottish Government? To include all funding streams from the Department of Work and Pensions and any additional amounts supplemented by Scottish Government to be included in the total.

2. Can you inform me of the total of number of cases referred to the FFWS that became live and reportable cases, i.e. were opened during the life cycle of the service and had at least one 'return to work plans' issued prior to closure?

Working Health Services Scotland:

1. Can you inform me of the total expenditure on Working Health Services Scotland by Scottish Government from its inception in 2009 (approx.) through to the present day?

Response

The answer to your first question is £7,815,073. This includes all funding streams from the Department of Work and Pensions. The table below illustrates the annual expenditure on Fit for Work Scotland (FfWS) from 2014 to 31 March 2018:

Financial Year	Total Amount of Funding for FfWS
2014-15	1,335,069
2015-16	2,354,040
2016-17	2,126,000
2017-18	1,999,964
Total:	7,815,073

The only expenditure by Scottish Government was the salary paid to Scottish Government staff who undertook work related to FfWS as part of the day to day duties. The work by Scottish Government staff on FfWS was included in their job remit and therefore it is not possible to quantify what portion of their salary was used to work on developing and implementing Fit for Work Scotland.

The answer to your second question is 2288 people in total were referred into the Fit for Work Service. Out of the 2288 referrals 1643 people received at least one Return to Work Plan and 645 did not receive a Return to Work Plan. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested on the total expenditure on Working Health Services Scotland by Scottish Government from its inception in 2009 through to the present day.

However, you may wish to contact the Freedom of Information Officer at NHS Lanarkshire as they may be able to help you. You can contact them by email at foi@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk or write to them at:

Freedom of Information Officer
NHS Lanarkshire Headquarters
Kirklands
Fallside Road
Bothwell
G71 8BB

Reasons for not providing information

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because the information within the scope of your request is not held centrally.

The funding for the Working Health Services Scotland is included in the Scottish Government annual baseline funding allocation to NHS Lanarkshire. In this instance, NHS Lanarkshire is responsible for making decisions on how funds are allocated to Working Health Services Scotland. I would advise contacting the Board directly for details in that respect.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

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