Scotland’s devolved employment services

An Experimental Statistics Publication for Scotland

Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published the third in a new series of experimental statistics about Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services. The third edition published statistics for the first year of Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland, which both launched in April 2017. Information on those referred to (‘referrals’) and subsequently joining the services (‘starts’) is presented. A breakdown of referrals and starts by quarter is also provided.

Main findings

Overall, a total of 5,526 people joined Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland during the period 3 April 2017 to 30 March 2018, as a result of 8,985 referrals made to the services. Referrals to the services stopped on 9 March 2018.

Work First Scotland

• A total of 4,431 people joined Work First Scotland during the period 3 April 2017 to 30 March 2018, as a result of 6,927 referrals made to the service. This means 64% of those referred subsequently chose to participate.

Work Able Scotland

• A total of 1,095 people joined Work Able Scotland during the period 3 April 2017 to 30 March 2018, as a result of 2,058 referrals made to the service. This means 53% of those referred subsequently chose to participate. 

Notes for News Editors

• This is an Experimental Statistics publication. Experimental Statistics are a type of official statistics that are undergoing development. They are defined in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics as: 'new official statistics undergoing evaluation that are published in order to involve users and stakeholders in their development as a means to build in quality at an early stage'.
• These statistics are being released as such primarily to allow time for the devolved employment services to embed and hence sufficient volumes of data to accumulate, with on-going quality assurance work being undertaken concurrently. This will allow additional and more in-depth analysis to be published in due course.
• User feedback will help shape the development of this statistical series and so comments on content and presentation are welcomed.

Data sources and methodology

Methodology

The overall number of people joining the services during the period 3 April 2017 to 30 March 2018 reflects the outcomes of referrals received from 3 April 2017 to 9 March 2018, which includes 4 people who had a recorded start date after 30 March 2018. There is a necessary time lag between an individual being referred to the services, and subsequent contact being made by the service provider to engage with the individual.

Data sources

Work First Scotland (WFS)

Numbers of referrals and starts to WFS reported through the DWP Provider Referrals and Payments (PRaP) system.

Work Able Scotland (WAS)

Number of referrals to WAS reported by service providers, via clerical referrals made by DWP. Number of starts recorded on SDS’ Corporate Training System (CTS).

Please see the Technical Annex of the main publication for further details on data sources and methodology.

The full Experimental Statistics publication.