Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 5: participant phone survey - years 4 and 5 - November 2023

Footnotes

1. A non-response bias refers to the phenomenon in which the sample of participants is systematically different from the population it was drawn from because participants with certain characteristics are less likely accept invitation to take part in a study.

2. These are the proportions after weighting was applied. See the technical appendix for a detailed breakdown of both unweighted and weighted responses.

3. Just sixteen survey participants were parents but did not belong to a priority family.

4. Please note that, for those who were in-work at the time of the survey, the survey did not ask how participants obtained these jobs. It is therefore not possible to ascertain based on the findings from the survey, whether those who were in-work at the time the survey took place were placed in those jobs through FSS providers or obtained the jobs by themselves (including after having left the service).

5. The hourly rate for the minimum wage (including the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage) depends on age and whether the person is an apprentice (a separate legal requirements on minimum wage apply to apprenticeships). The National Living Wage applies for those aged 23 or above and the National Minimum Wage applies for workers ages 22 and under. We do not have a breakdown of income by individual age, only for age bands 16-24 and 25 or above. We cannot therefore be certain if or how many of those aged 16 - 24 who reported being paid less than the National Living Wage were legally entitled to it. However, everyone aged 25 or above who reported earning less than the National Living Wage were legally entitled to it. Further, as the survey did not collect data on whether the person was an apprentice we cannot state whether the apprenticeship status impacted on earnings.

6. Please note that up until Summer 2020 the service was delivered by six service providers.

7. Where findings are reported as “more/less likely than average” the test is between the figure reported and the average of the other categories in that sub-group.

8. A non-response bias refers to the phenomenon in which the sample of participants is systematically different from the population it was drawn from because participants with certain characteristics are less likely accept invitation to take part in a study.

9. This is a trend consistent with data from the 2011 Scotland Census, where people from a minority ethnic background were more likely to be qualified to degree level or above than white people.

10. Please note that, for those who were in work at the time of the survey, the survey did not ask how participants obtained these jobs. It is therefore not possible to ascertain based on the findings from the survey, whether those who were in-work at the time the survey took place were placed in those jobs through FSS providers or obtained the jobs by themselves (including after having left the service).

11. For the 2021-22 cohort, the maximum time between starting on FSS and being interviewed is 18 months, compared with 16 months for Wave 2 and 3, and 14 months for Wave 1.

12. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

13. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

14. Changes over time within the 2020 cohort is provided in a later chapter.

15. The job roles and descriptions were coded to using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) standard Occupational Classification Hierarchy. The figures in the occupational groups have been rounded to the nearest whole percentage, as a result some of the occupation groups do not match the sum of the hierarchical groups.

16. Please note there was a slight difference in the window of time between joining FSS and completing the survey between the two waves, though because this is so slight, they remain comparable. The 2020 cohort was surveyed between 1 and 16 months after joining FSS, and the 2021-22 cohort was surveyed between 1 and 18 months after joining FSS.

17. Changes over time within the same cohorts (2018, 2019 and 2020) are provided in later chapters.

18. Pay range bands in the survey were asked as hourly rates, but annual rates were also provided so the interviewer could ask with these if the participant only knew their pay in annual terms.

19. To ensure Fair Start Scotland offers the most effective employability support possible to participants, a number of key features are integral to its delivery. The service provider must promote the Scottish Government’s ambitions around Fair Work, payment of the Real Living Wage and support the Scottish Government’s Diversity and Equality Policy to supply chain / consortia partners and the employers that they work with. The Scottish Government were not able to mandate the Real Living Wage as a condition in the delivery of Fair Start Scotland. Employment policy is not devolved, and the National Minimum Wage is the legal requirement across the UK. It is worth noting that Fair Start Scotland contracts pre-date the Scottish Government’s commitment to strengthening Fair Work policy in relation to promoting the Real Living Wage.

20. Please note that a separate legal requirements on minimum wage apply to apprenticeships.

21. Percentages might not exactly match due to rounding in individual figures on the charts.

22. FSS aims to support people into fair and sustainable work at the right time for them, avoiding exploitative employment practices, including for example no inappropriate use of zero hours contracts. Employability in Scotland provides more information on the aims of the FSS service. For comparison, the rate of people in employment who were employed on zero hours contract in Scotland as a whole in the comparable time period to when the survey took place was 3.4% for Oct-Dec 2022 and 3.9% for Jan-Mar 2023, as reported by the Office for National Statistics.

23. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

24. Economically inactive is defined as: in education or training, not in employment because of a sickness or disability, looking after the home or family full time, caring for an adult relative or friend with a disability or long-term illness, working in a voluntary or other unpaid role or retired and/or claiming a pension.

25. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

26. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

27. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

28. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

29. The following types of support were introduced in the Wave 2 survey for the 2019 cohort so comparisons cannot be made with the 2018 cohort: Specialist support for a mental health condition; specialist support for a physical health condition; help with managing finances or dealing with debt. The following types of support were introduced in the Wave 4 survey for the 2021-22 cohort so comparisons cannot be made with previous waves: Help with English language skills; provided with a laptop or tablet.

30. However within FSS a job outcome is classed as 16 hours or more, therefore anyone moving into a job of fewer than 16 hours is still classed as not working and remains eligible for pre-employment support.

31. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

32. ‘SUMMARY: Was taken off the programme’ includes the following answers: I had a Work Capability Assessment and was put into the Support Group / found not to be fit for work; I was signed off JSA/ESA; Jobcentre Plus told me I could not stay on the service any longer; I was signed off Universal Credit.

33. Within FSS a job outcome is classed as 16 hours or more, therefore anyone moving into a job of fewer than 16 hours is still classed as not working and remains eligible for pre-employment support.

34. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

35. Excluding barriers reported by ten or fewer participants.

36. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

37. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

38. In order to calculate this average, the difference (in terms of number of months) between the month in which participants joined the FSS programme and the month in which they responded to the survey was calculated. Exact start dates were not available for participants in the longitudinal sample; only the quarter in which they joined the programme was available. A consistent approach was thereby adopted: the month in the middle of the relevant quarter (e.g. February in Quarter 1) was used for this calculation for all participants.

39. Please note that, for those who were in-work at the time of the survey, the survey did not ask how participants obtained these jobs. It is therefore not possible to ascertain based on the findings from the survey, whether those who were in-work at the time the survey took place were placed in those jobs through FSS providers or obtained the jobs by themselves (including after having left the service).

40. Additional explanation: please note that the first two bars in this figure show all participants in work at each wave, regardless of whether they were also in work in the other wave. The lower two bars show the 77 participants who were in work at both waves.

41. Pay range bands in the survey were asked as hourly rates, but annual rates were also provided so the interviewer could ask with these if the participant only knew their pay in annual terms.

42. To ensure Fair Start Scotland offers the most effective employability support possible to participants, a number of key features are integral to its delivery. The service provider must promote the Scottish Government’s ambitions around Fair Work, payment of the Real Living Wage and support the Scottish Government’s Diversity and Equality Policy to supply chain / consortia partners and the employers that they work with. The Scottish Government were not able to mandate the Real Living Wage as a condition in the delivery of Fair Start Scotland. Employment policy is not devolved, and the National Minimum Wage is the legal requirement across the UK. It is worth noting that Fair Start Scotland contracts pre-date the Scottish Government’s commitment to strengthening Fair Work policy in relation to promoting the Real Living Wage.

43. Please note that a separate legal requirement on minimum wage apply to apprenticeships.

44. Scales were changed for the Wave 4 survey to reflect updated rates of the legal national minimum and national living wages, as well as the Real Living Wage calculated by the Living Wage Foundation. This means the scale is not directly comparable to Wave 3 – however comparisons have been made with regard to the proportion of participants being paid above and below the legal minimums at the time of the surveys.

45. Within FSS a job outcome is classed as 16 hours or more, therefore anyone moving into a job of fewer than 16 hours is still classed as not working and remains eligible for pre-employment support.

46. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

47. Please note that the findings should be interpreted with extreme caution as we do not know the underlying factors responsible for this difference between geographical Lots.

48. Sergey Dorofeev and Peter Grant, Statistics for Real Life Sample Surveys (Cambridge University Press, 2006) p.154; Dorofeev and Grant also make the point that the need for weighting means that the sample will not be a simple random sample with the implication that practical compromises need to be made in the application of statistical methods (Dorofeev and Grant, 2006:54).