Employability services: Supported Employment and Individual Placement and Support reviews - responses

Individual placement and support review - recommendation responses

As part of our work to develop an approach to specialist employability support for disabled people, we have considered the recommendations made in the review of individual placement and support delivered through Fair Start Scotland.

Our response to each of these recommendations is below.

Recommendation 1: commissioning outside of Fair Start Scotland 

In future, Individual Placement and Support for people with severe and enduing mental illness should be commissioned outside of Fair Start Scotland (FSS) through a partnership between health and employability commissioners.

Our response

No One Left Behind ensures the design and commissioning of services takes place at a local level through the Local Employability Partnership or at whatever geography partners agree. These partnerships bring together a range of agencies, organisations, and partners to plan and implement provision in their area, including Health representation on all 32.

Partners around the table will play a critical role in supporting the delivery of Specialist Employability Support through evidencing and prioritising local need, based on their knowledge, experience, resources and quality data.

Recommendation 2: future contractual changes

Existing Individual Placement and Support delivery within FSS could be improved through capacity building supported with future contractual changes.

Our response

FSS has now ended for new referrals however since the review was conducted we have worked with colleagues in Health Improvement to support training for frontline staff from each Fair Start Scotland service provider. Learning from this provision including any improvements in the service offer and partnership building will be used to strengthen our delivery.

Changes were also made to the FSS Contracts to allow providers to claim for job outcomes for participants who work at least 8 hours a week, as opposed to the 16 hours set out at launch. We can confirm that provision delivered through the No One Left Behind approach, including Specialist Employability Support which will be introduced from summer 2025, is not subject to meeting a set number of worked hours per week for job outcomes. Instead, job opportunities must reflect the need of the individuals accessing them.

Recommendation 3: expanding provision within FSS

Individual Placement and Support provision within FSS should be expanded further to all participants with complex health and disability related barriers to work. This would make Scotland a pioneer in demonstrating how to achieve outstanding outcomes within mainstream employment.

Our response

No One Left Behind Specialist Employability Support will be available to anyone with a disability or long-term health condition. As part of the work of the expanded working group, we will ensure reporting approaches are effective in providing an understanding of the impact of employability services particularly for those with complex health and disability related barriers to work.

We will also work to ensure that existing links between Employability and Health services are built upon to improve referral mechanisms and on-going joint support as required for the participant, to ensure people receive the right support at the right time.