Fair Work First - conditionality in public sector grants: business and regulatory impact assessment

Annex B – Details of Interviews, Survey and Wider Engagement

Interviews

Sixteen organisations were interviewed in February and March 2024, including organisations from the public, private and third sectors, social enterprises and public sector bodies who were both grant funders and grant applicants.

Interviewees from public sector organisations were identified through:

• An email to local authorities issued via COSLA
• An email to Scottish Government policy officials covering selected Public Bodies.

Interviewees from private and third sector organisations were identified through:

• Requests for nominations through the business stakeholders on the Ministerial Oversight Group on Fair Work
• Requests for nominations from the enterprise agencies
• Suggestions from Scottish Government officials in relevant policy areas.

The sample of interviewees was selected to ensure a mix of larger and smaller organisations. We were unable to secure an interview with a large private employer. The largest private employer in the sample employs 380 and is part of a wider parent organisation.

Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise took part in interviews, given their role and experience as significant grant funders of businesses of different sizes, sectors and locations Scotland-wide.

Other interviewees were also selected to ensure a spread of organisations across Scotland and included 4 urban organisations, 6 rural organisations (two were island based and one covered island interests) and 3 pan-Scotland organisations.

A Fair Work First conditionality Island Impact Assessment was not conducted however conditionality was considered at a high level as part of the Island Communities Impact Assessment undertaken for the refreshed Fair Work Action Plan and Anti-Racist Employment Strategy (2023).

Interviewees included organisations that had applied for grants before and / or after the conditionality was introduced on 1 July 2023.

Tables B.1–B.3 below provide more information on the participating organisations – sector (public/private/third), location (rural/urban/mixed) and size.

Conduct of interviews

Interviews were conducted by members of the Scottish Government’s Fair Work Division, led by an official not directly involved in FWF policy and supported by the FWF policy team.

There were separate and overlapping questions for grant applicants and grant funders. The 9 public and third sector employers were interviewed as grant applicants, the 3 enterprise agencies and the NDPB were interviewed as grant funders while the 3 local authorities were interviewed as both applicants and funders.

The organisations being interviewed were able to include more than one representative if they wished. Each interview had between one and four participants from that organisation. In total across 16 organisations, 27 individuals participated.

Survey

An online survey was distributed to potential respondents through enterprise agencies, business organisations and other stakeholders. It was open between 9 February-12 March 2024, with a total of 157 responses received, including 76 from private businesses. These have been analysed by Scottish Government policy officials and analysts from the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser. The characteristics of respondents are presented in Tables B.4-B.6 below.

Organisations that responded to the survey had either or both applied for grants prior to 1 July 2023 (117 respondents) and after 1 July 2023 (75 respondents).

The survey was not a consultation – it did not ask whether respondents agreed with or supported the policy. The BRIA is focussed on implementation and reducing burden, with survey questions relating to the operation of the policy.

The survey is not representative so results are presented to show the range of views captured. Results cannot be viewed as indicative of all employers, grant applicants, grant funders, particular sectors or for the whole country.

The results from the survey and the evidence gathered through the interviews were compared to identify any notable differences. These were found to be broadly consistent.

Engagement On Issued Raised In The Initial Implementation Phase of the Policy

In the lead up to the introduction of conditionality and since, Fair Work policy officials have engaged internally across the Scottish Government and with public, private and third sectors, as well as the STUC and Fair Work Convention. The issues raised are outlined at section 2.4 and have been considered as part of the BRIA process.

Internal engagement was with a number of policy areas across the Scottish Government, including:

• City Deals
• Constitution and UK Relations – Internal Market and Common Frameworks (intra-UK trade)
• Culture
• Employability
• European Structural Funds and Subsidy Control (international trade)
• External Affairs – Europe Division (EU Alignment)
• Fair Work and Labour Market Strategy
• Housing – Affordable Housing Supply Programme
• Local Government Finance
• Skills

We also engaged with and had representations from a wide range of external stakeholders on the run-up to and since the introduction of conditionality, including:

• COSLA
• Creative Scotland
• Enterprise agencies – Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise
• Fair Work Convention
• Prosper
• Scottish Chambers of Commerce
• Scottish Retail Consortium
• Skills Development Scotland
• STUC
• Third Sector leaders, such as SCVO