Fair Start Scotland, Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland: statistical summary November 2018

Work Able Scotland Statistics

Work Able Scotland (WAS) is a devolved employment support service for those with a health condition, managed by Skills Development Scotland. It is one of two transitional services put in place before Fair Start Scotland, which launched on 3 April 2018. Work Able Scotland is a voluntary service, tailored to meet individual need. It focuses on helping participants achieve their full potential and move towards becoming independent. It also seeks to help support employers who employ people participating in the service with a health condition.

The measured outputs from the service are called job outcomes, which are either short or sustained. A ‘short’ job outcome is achieved when a participant stays in work, or is self-employed, working 16 hours per week or more, for at least 6 consecutive weeks; that is, a job which lasts at least 6 weeks.^[13] A ‘sustained’ job outcome is achieved when a participant stays in a job, or is self-employed, working 16 hours per week or more, for at least 26 weeks out of 30; that is, continuous employment, but not necessarily in the same job, lasting 26 out of 30 weeks (breaks in employment must total no more than 4 weeks).

Participant journeys on Work Able Scotland^[9]

Work Able Scotland Referrals and Starts

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.^[14]

Figure 10: Work Able Scotland referrals and starts during the period 3 April 2017 to 30 March 2018, by quarter

Table 16: Work Able Scotland referrals and starts during the period 3 April 2017 to 30 March 2018, by quarter

WAS Early leavers

WAS participants can receive up to a maximum of 12 months support in total, whether for pre-employment support and/or in-work support or any combination of both. An early leaver is a participant who disengages from the service between joining and the end of the 12 month support entitlement period (and has not been recorded as entering employment).

As at 28 September 2018, 413 early leavers from WAS were reported by service providers. Service providers record the reasons why these participants have left the service early, if known. Where participants disengage and cease contact with the provider, attempts are made to re-engage with these individuals; however specific reasons for leaving early are not established in the majority of cases. This means that an overall distribution showing the reasons participants leave early is not available. Data supplied by service providers, however, shows that around 13% of all participants left the service early because of health related issues.

WAS Participants entering employment

As at 28 September 2018:

• 162 participants had entered employment (achieved a ‘job start’)^[4]

• 125 participants had entered employment which lasted at least 6 weeks (achieved a ‘short job outcome’)^[5]
• 47 participants had entered employment which lasted at least 26 weeks (achieved a ‘sustained job outcome’)^[5]

WAS Participants sustaining employment - Start to Job Outcome rates

This publication reports on data from the first 18 months of Work Able Scotland, to 28 September 2018. Since WAS has a longer period of time in which employment support can be delivered (up to 12 months), participants who have not yet had 15 or 18 months to achieve a short or sustained job outcome, respectively, must be excluded from the calculation of the start to outcome rates.^[15]

As at 28 September 2018, that would mean reporting on the short job outcomes of participants who joined WAS during the first 3 months of the service (between 3 April and 29 June 2017). A start to short job outcome rate will be available in the next publication, using data for participants who joined WAS during the first 6 months of the service.

As at 28 September 2018, no participants had passed the 18-month point at which sustained job outcomes could be achieved, as the service only launched 18 months ago. A short to sustained job outcome rate therefore cannot yet be calculated.

Start to job outcomes rates for WAS will be available in future publications as more people reach the stage at which short and sustained outcomes could have been achieved.