No One Left Behind: delivery plan

1. Introduction

No One Left Behind, our strategy for placing people at the centre of the design and delivery of employability services, promotes a strengthened partnership approach where the spheres of government work more collaboratively with third and private sector to identify local needs and make informed, evidence-based decisions, flexing these to meet emerging labour market demands.

In February 2020 we published the Joint Scottish and Local Government No One Left Behind Employability Action Plan, setting out key deliverables across six No One Left Behind Workstreams:

Image description:

Image in the shape of a wheel that shows each of the six No One Left Behind Workstreams as individual spokes - Service Design, Shared Measurement Framework, Communications, Alignment and Integration, Governance and Risk, Policy and Finance surrounding a group of people in the centre of the wheel under the title No One Left Behind.

Workstream: Service Design

High level Objective: To use the Scottish Approach to Service Design to co-produce a national framework which establishes an all age employability system that is person centred, more joined up, flexible and responsive to individual needs.

Workstream: Governance and Risk

High level Objective: To ensure an appropriate approach to governance providing collective leadership ensuring a robust framework for decision-making and risk management.

Workstream: Shared Measurement Framework

High level Objective: To establish a national outcomes and shared measurement framework.

Workstream: Policy & Finance

High level Objective: To develop a strategic financial approach that reflects an overall national coherence and balances this with appropriate levels of local and regional flexibility, evidenced by the needs of individuals and local/regional geographies.

Workstream: Alignment and Integration

High level Objective: To align public policy and practice to improve outcomes and value from public expenditure.

Workstream: Communications

High level Objective: To effectively communicate with partners, stakeholders and service users adopting an inclusive, collaborative and flexible approach.

Through these Workstreams, we are committed to working with partners and users of services, not only to deliver a move from national to more locally tailored place based design and delivery, but an increasing shift towards user engagement, collaborative service design, partnership working, shared measurement and a common approach to inclusive communications.

Since the publication of the Action Plan in February, much has changed. For many of us, 2020 will have been the most challenging year that we have ever faced, as we see and feel the impacts of COVID-19 on health, wellbeing and the economy. We must acknowledge that the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 have limited the pace of progress on No One Left Behind actions, with staff resource rightly prioritised towards the national pandemic response.

In light of the economic uncertainty that we face, we remain conscious that we must balance our ambitions to progress No One Left Behind, but at a pace which provides both continuity of support to service users and stability across the employability system as a whole. The recent confirmation that Community Jobs Scotland and the Employability Fund will continue to operate in 2021-2022, with the next phase of No One Left Behind expected to commence in April 2022, recognises and seeks to mitigate some of those current challenges.

This Delivery Plan outlines the model for national employability investment in the period to April 2022, reinforcing our commitment to the No One Left Behind approach and extending an invitation to partners and users to work collaboratively with us as we develop and take forward shared plans for the next phase of No One Left Behind.