Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: No One Left Behind Statistical Summary October 2024

This is the 28th edition of this quarterly statistical report providing summary information on Scotland’s devolved employability services. This report, split for the first time, focuses on the No One Left Behind strategic approach to employability delivery in Scotland covering the period April 2019 to June 2024. A separate report covers Fair Start Scotland (Access all employability statistics - opens in a new window).

Further detailed statistics for No One Left Behind are published in accompanying tables alongside the report.

No One Left Behind

No One Left Behind, introduced from April 2019, is a different approach to employability delivery which moves away from funding and delivering a number of separate and distinct employability programmes, to a more flexible approach. This system is more tailored and responsive to the needs of people of all ages who want help and support on their journey towards, into and in work - particularly people with health conditions, disabled people and others who are disadvantaged in the labour market. Please refer to supplementary Background and Methodology Report for more details on No One Left Behind and associated data.

No One Left Behind Shared Measurement Framework Data Reporting Template

From October 2022 (July 2022 for 13 Local Authorities who adopted the new template early), a new data reporting template (Access the new data template - opens in a new window) co-designed with Local Authorities and aligned to the Shared Measurement Framework (SMF) has been in place. We continue to work closely with Local Authorities to improve the accuracy and quality of returns following this transition.

Official Statistics in Development

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (Access the Code of Practice – opens in a new window) that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. The statistics presented are Official Statistics in Development.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing: employabilitydata@gov.scot. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing: regulation@statistics.gov.uk.

Data Developments and Issues in this Edition

• Age is under review. We now use both “age at start date” and the newly added “date of birth” variable to determine participants’ age upon first joining NOLB. We are working closely with Local Authorities to examine any discrepancies.
• Falkirk is experiencing issues with historical data which means that a high number of participants are reported as “unknown”. We are working with Falkirk to resolve this, and expect the historical data to be restored in time for the next publication.
• Further information on these points is available in the supplementary Background and Methodology Report.