Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: Background and Methodology

4. No One Left Behind Background Information

Data collection

All participant data is collected and recorded on management information systems by Scottish Local Authorities. Data returns are submitted to the Scottish Government on a quarterly basis.

Statistics on No One Left Behind were first published in February 2021 for year 1 participants, derived from the aggregate data that was collected during that period. Since then year 1 data has been developed and combined with data currently collected for subsequent periods, which has allowed more detailed information for year 1 participants, including their achievements to be released.

Scottish Government carry out quality assurance on returned data, for example ensuring values are returned in the correct range and comparisons are made over time and between Local Authorities. There are specific areas of data quality which Scottish Government is working on improving with Local Authorities as shown in the table 2 below.

Starts

People are registered to start receiving support by a Local Authority Key Worker.

There can be a delay between participant’s starting to receive No One Left Behind support and this being reported to the Scottish Government while the process of verifying eligibility takes place. This means participants who started in earlier quarters may not be reported until subsequent quarters. Therefore, data for the most recent quarters is considered provisional.  

Sexual Orientation

The No One Left Behind data template collects sexual orientation data as defined by the Scottish Government’s recommended question (2022 Census) on sexual orientation using the question: Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? This question is asked of participants who are aged 16 or over.

The following options are available:

• A. Heterosexual / Straight
• B. Gay / Lesbian
• C. Bisexual
• D. Other
• E – (Prefer not to say), (Not recorded)

Ethnicity

The No One Left Behind data template collects ethnic group data as defined by the Scottish Government’s recommended question (2022 Census) on ethnic group using the question: What is your ethnic group?

The following options are available:

• A. White – (Scottish), (Other British), (Irish), (Gypsy Traveller), (Polish), (Roma), (Showman / Showwoman), (Other)
• B. Mixed or multiple ethnic groups
• C. Asian/Asian Scottish/Asian British – (Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish, Pakistani British), (Indian, Indian Scottish, Indian British), (Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish, Bangladeshi British), (Chinese, Chinese Scottish, Chinese British), (Other)
• D. African/Scottish African/British African – (African Scottish, African British), (Other)
• E. Caribbean or Black – (Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish, Caribbean British), (Black, Black Scottish, Black British), (Caribbean or Black – Other)
• F. Other Ethnic Group – (Arab, Arab Scottish, Arab British), (Other ethnic group)
• G – (Prefer not to say), (Not recorded)

It is important that results are presented in as much detail as possible but this is often not possible due to small numbers, therefore categories are often combined. While this may hide inequalities that occur between separate ethnic groups, it allows some analysis by ethnicity to be carried out.

For the purposes of this report, category A is presented as White, and categories B, C, D, E, and F are presented as Minority Ethnic. Category G is categorised as Unknown. The term “Minority Ethnic” aids narrative and provides a concise terminology. The terminology used aligns with Scottish Government guidance (opens in a new window).

More detailed breakdowns by ethnicity will be included in future editions when sample sizes allow.

Disability

Before the introduction of the SMF Data Template (July 2022 for 13 Local Authorities; October 2022 for all Local Authorities), Local Authorities were issued guidance for collecting data on disability status which specified that disability status should be recorded as defined by the Equality Act (2010). Local Authorities then returned data indicating if a participant had a disability by responding, “Yes”, “No”, “Prefer not to say” or “Not recorded”.

However, after the introduction of the SMF Data Template this approach was replaced by the introduction of two questions which define disability based on the Equality Act: i) Do you have a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more? ii) Does your condition or illness reduce your ability to carry-out day-to-day activities?

The responses to these two questions are then used to define if a participant is disabled as defined by the Equality Act (2010). If the answer to the first question is "yes", and the answer to the second is either "yes, a lot" or "yes, a little" then the participant is defined as disabled.

 Further information can be found here: Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010 (opens in a new window).

Age

A new variable, “Date of Birth”, was included in the data template from April 2024 onwards. While this should be completed for all participants starting from 1st April 2024, many Local Authorities have also provided this information for previous participants where possible. Prior to the introduction of this variable, the “Age at Start Date” variable was used to assign participants into age categories. However, while guidance advised this variable should be the age at start date and should therefore not change, data quality checks showed this information was changing for a number of participants in later submissions. The introduction of the “Date of Birth” variable will improve data quality and consistency by allowing age to be calculated by Scottish Government statisticians after submission.

Local Authorities are advised that if they are providing “Date of Birth”, there is no requirement to also supply data under the “Age at Start Date” variable. However, where both have been supplied, age calculated using the difference between “Date of Birth” and “Start Date” will take precedence over the “Age at Start Date” variable. Where there are discrepancies, this is queried with Local Authorities.  

Parents

Parent data for No One Left Behind was collected from the start of year 2 (April 2020 onwards), including data on lone parents and age of youngest child. Number of children and disabled child within family were also collected from the start of year 2. Both were updated when the SMF Data Template was introduced to, number of dependent children and disabled child or adult within family, respectively. The latter allowed better alignment with the ‘families with a disabled person’ priority family group. An update to the guidance was implemented in 2024 to clarify that parents do not need to be living with their dependent child.

The Scottish Government has identified a number of ‘priority family groups’ at risk of child poverty, further information can be found here: Tackling child poverty priority families overview (opens in a new window).

Please note that the data presented in this publication and the supplementary statistical tables differs in some aspects from the priority family group definitions due mainly to its focus on participants rather than family units. For example, if a participant's partner is a mother under 25 the participant would not be included in the counts for a family type with a mother under 25 as the actual participant is not a mother under 25, therefore differing from the ‘families with a younger mother (under 25)’ priority family type.

Economic Status at Start Date

The economic status of participants when support commences. This is not updated if a person re-engages. Through International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines, all people aged 16 and over can be classified into states of economic activity: in employment; unemployed; or economically inactive. Economic activity definitions align to ILO definitions however, No One Left Behind also has an at school category and participants aged under 16 can also be classified into one of the three economic activity states noted as opposed to the under 16 ILO classification.

Unemployed

Under ILO guidelines, anybody who is without work, available for work and seeking work is unemployed. The UK applies this as anybody who is not in employment by the above definition, has actively sought work in the last 4 weeks and is available to start work in the next 2 weeks, or has found a job and is waiting to start in the next 2 weeks, is considered to be unemployed.

Economically Inactive

Those who are not in employment and are not unemployed by these definitions are considered to be economically inactive. There are a number of reasons why someone who is not in work may not be actively seeking work. For example many students in full-time education would not seek work, neither will some sick or disabled people, those who have retired, or those who are looking after a family or home, and many other reasons.

Outcomes

Employment

In general, anybody who carries out at least one hour’s paid work in a week, or is temporarily away from a job (e.g. on holiday) is in employment. Also counted as in employment are people who are on government supported training schemes and people who do unpaid work for their family’s business.

Only Employer Recruitment Incentives (ERIs), in-work training allowances and Intermediate Labour Market (ILM) opportunities paid directly to the employer count toward the total of entering employment. Other subsidies such as Long Term Unemployed opportunities, Young Person’s Training Allowance and ILM opportunities not paid directly to the employer are not counted towards employment.

Modern apprenticeships and self-employment count towards entering employment. Participants may be counted as starting a modern apprenticeship or entering self-employment and as receiving a subsidy such as ERI or in-work training allowance.

Further/Higher Education Outcomes

Courses expected to achieve a minimum qualification of National Certificate (NC), or equivalent. NCs are designed for full-time delivery over one year (or part-time over two years). They are aimed at 16-18 year olds or adults in full-time education and are at SCQF Levels 2-6. For more information see: National Certificates (NCs) and National Progression Awards (NPAs) - SQA (opens in new window).

Duration of Outcomes

Local Authorities contact participants at set follow-up intervals (4, 13, 26 and 52 weeks) and record their status (e.g. in employment, in further/higher education, in training or in school). Participants do not need to have sustained employment for the full follow-up period. They could enter employment, leave, then have returned to employment by the follow-up and be counted as being in employment.

As official statistics in development, we are continually reviewing our methodology and engaging with users to ensure our publication meets the Code of Practice for Statistics standards of trustworthiness, quality and value. This is important on the journey towards these statistics becoming official statistics. In line with this, we carried out a thorough review of our progression methodology in advance of the May 2025 publication (see Review of Progression Methodology for Devolved Employability Statistics Quarterly Publication (opens in new window) for more details) and made the following changes to ensure our publication provides a clear picture on how those entering employment are progressing.

From May 2025, our publication presents:

• breakdowns that consider only those participants where the full time to achieve a relevant follow-up check has passed. Previously, all participants entering employment were included in the denominator for all follow-up check points regardless of whether a participant had been in employment long enough to reach that follow-up point. For example, the denominator for calculating those still in employment at 52 weeks included participants who had not been in employment long enough to reach 52 weeks employment and therefore was an underestimate. From this publication onwards, only participants who entered employment at least 52 weeks prior to the end of the reporting period are included in the 52 week follow-up denominator, with a similar methodology applied to the 4, 13 and 26 week follow-up checks.

Please note, there are still some methodological points that need to be considered for this data:

• not all participants can be reached at follow-up points therefore only those that respond and confirm employment are counted as in employment at follow-up points. This means participants still in employment but who do not respond to follow-ups are not included in the numerator but are included in the denominator which may underestimate the proportion of those still in employment. We are working closely with data suppliers to improve the quality of this information and plan to provide clearer breakdowns of who has and has not been reached and factoring this into calculations in the future. This will make it clearer what proportion of participants are still in employment compared to those who simply cannot be reached.
• Information on the 4 week employment follow-up check has only been collected from October 2022 onwards. We do not have data for participants who reached this check prior to this date, which means the statistics for this follow-up check should be considered an undercount.
• No One Left Behind differs from other employability support programmes such as Fair Start Scotland and those offered by DWP in key ways that means comparisons are not appropriate. No One Left Behind support is offered on an individual needs basis, meaning support varies significantly in intensity, frequency and levels of disengagement / re-engagement for participants. This means unlike other support offers, there is not a set support period before outcomes are measured.  There are also a wider range of positive outcomes participants can achieve as not all are ready for employment. No One Left Behind recognises this and offers support to help people reach other positive destinations such as entering higher education, that will ultimately help people be ready for employment further down the line. This means unlike other support offers, we report on more than just employment as an outcome. Related to this point, to ensure the progression of those entering employment is measured appropriately, statistics for follow-ups use the number of participants entering employment as the denominator and not all those who start receiving support.

Table 2: Summary of No One Left Behind areas of data quality improvement