Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary November 2022

No One Left Behind (Experimental Statistics)

Introduction

No One Left Behind is a strategy for placing people at the centre of the design and delivery of employability services. The transition to this new approach, delivered through a partnership agreement between Scottish and Local Government, commenced on 1 April 2019.

The No One Left Behind approach moves away from funding and delivering a number of separate and distinct employability programmes, to a more flexible approach. Scottish and Local Government are working with third and private sector to deliver support which aims to be more joined-up and responsive to the needs of individuals of all ages and to local labour market conditions.

Since April 2019, a range of Scottish Government funding has been made available to Local Government partners as the scope of delivery under No One Left Behind expands over time. This includes funding for the initial phase of No One Left Behind, from April 2019, the Parental Employability Support Fund, from February 2020, and the Young Person's Guarantee, from November 2020. Since February 2022, the experimental statistics in this publication have included people supported by the totality of these funds. The funding aims to provide support for people of all ages, with a range of differing characteristics and circumstances, including parents, who need help on their journey towards work.

Note that the experimental statistics in this publication relate only to Scottish Government funded activity and do not report on the entirety of employability related activity in each local authority area.

The support provided may vary from short, focused interventions or longer term support, dependent upon individual circumstances. Participants can access the support they require on an ongoing basis and can engage and disengage at times that best suit their needs. Individuals can self-refer to No One Left Behind support, or be referred through a variety of channels, including educational providers, local authorities, third sector organisations, Jobcentre Plus, and other local services.

Reach of services: How many people accessed employability support delivered under No One Left Behind?

A total of 24,907 people started receiving support from April 2019 to June 2022. The number of people starting to receive support has increased over time; 2,767^[23] in year 1, 4,849 in year 2, and 14,070 in year 3. In the most recent quarter (April – June 2022) 3,221 people started to receive support.

Most people were aged under 25, 17,317 (70%). Of these, 71% were aged 15-19 and 29% were aged 20-24. 7,546 (30%) of all participants were aged 25 or over. Of these, a similar proportion were aged 25-34 (38%) and 35-49 (40%), while only 22% were aged 50 or over. Age was unknown for 0.2% of participants.

Figure 10 below shows participation has increased for both the under 25 and 25 and over age groups over time with peak participation seen in January – March 2022. The latest quarter shows 1,915 participants under 25 and 1,304 participants 25 and over accessed support. It should be noted that the large increase in participation seen between January – March 2021 coincides with the introduction of additional funding to support young people.

Gender

Of the 24,907 people who started to receive support between April 2019 and June 2022, 44% were female and 55% male. Gender was unknown for 0.5% of participants. The proportion of females has increased over time. In year 1, 40% of participants were female. This peaked in year 2 at 47% before decreasing to 44% in year 3 and in the most recent quarter (April – June 2022). There are marked gender differences by age. The youngest (15-19) and oldest (50+) age groups have the lowest proportion of females at 38%, however for the 25-34 (60%) and 35-49 (62%) age groups, the gender difference reverses and females account for the highest proportion of participants.

Ethnicity

Overall, ethnic minority groups have accounted for 5% of participants since April 2019. This has gradually increased from 3% in Year 1 to 6% in Year 3. In the most recent quarter (April – June 2022), the proportion has remained at 6%.

However, there were age differences; with a higher proportion of minority ethnic participants in the 25 and over group (10%) compared with those under 25 (3%). These figures should be used with caution as some percentages are based on very small numbers.

Disability^[25]

Overall, 16% of participants accessing support reported having a disability. Unlike observed with gender and ethnicity, there is little variation between younger (under 25) and older (25 and over) age groups. The proportion of participants reporting a disability has been fairly consistent with the exception of a marked decrease to 12% in Year 2 before increasing back to previous levels in Year 3 (16%). The same proportion was observed in the most recent quarter. Year 2 covered the first pandemic year which may be a factor for the change observed in Year 2. These figures should be used with caution as some percentages are based on very small numbers.

Parents

Please note that parents are a subgroup of participants supported during the period April 2020 to June 2022 (from year two onwards).^[27] Therefore, the number of parents is not additional to the number of under 25s and those aged 25 and over. Rather they are distributed across age groups, with 17% being aged under 25 and 83% aged 25 and above.

Of the 22,140 people who started to receive support during this period (April 2020 – June 2022), 4,840 (22%) were parents. The number of parents have generally increased reaching a high of 1,070 parents in January to March 2022. There were 793 parents in the most recent quarter.

Parents as a proportion of all people starting to receive support has fluctuated somewhat over the period reaching a peak of 25% in the period October to December 2020. While this has fluctuated and dropped to 19% in July to September 2021, it has gradually increased since, reaching the previous high point of 25% in the most recent quarter.

The breakdown of equalities groups for parents is shown in Figure 13. The majority of parents are aged 35-49 years (42%) and this has been consistent over the reporting period. The proportion of parents is lowest for the youngest (15-19 year olds, 3%) and oldest (50 and over, 7%) age groups.

The gender difference is reversed and more pronounced in the parent subgroup (77% female) than all participants (44% female). Females have outweighed males considerably in the parent subgroup across the period; however the proportion of male parents accessing support has generally increased over time, from 17% in April to June 2020 to 27% in the latest quarter, the highest proportion observed to date.

12% of parents accessing support were from minority ethnic groups. The proportion fell to a low of 7% between October 2020 – March 2021, but steadily increased to a high of 16% in January to March 2022. It has since dropped back to 13% in the latest quarter.

Overall, 14% of parents reported having a disability. The proportion of parents reporting a disability has remained fairly stable over time, though there was a peak of 18% in July to September 2021. This has since decreased to 15% in the two most recent quarters.

Overall, 63% of parents supported were lone parents and 12% of parents were mothers under 25. 39% had one child, 32% had two children, 25% had three or more children, with number of children unknown in 4% of cases. Whilst there has been some variation across the period the pattern is broadly similar; parents with one child represent the greatest proportion of all parents in each period.

13% of all parents had a youngest child aged under 12 months. This proportion has increased from 10% in year 2 to 14% in year 3.

11% of all parents had a disabled child within their family, with status unknown in 9% of cases. Similarly, the proportion of parents with a disabled child within the family has increased between year 2 (8%; 12% unknown) and year 3 (12%; 10% unknown).

Shared Measurement Framework (SMF)

The first SMF publication was released in April 2022.^[29] The initial data recommendations built on existing data collection practice and activity currently in place between Local and Scottish government, and formalised a number of key data items which we currently collect^[30] on the theme of 'progression'. Therefore, it is an appropriate time to start publishing experimental statistics based on that data, aligned with the progression theme.

The flexible, person-centred support No One Left Behind seeks to put in place acknowledges that participants may experience support differently, based on their individual circumstances and needs – for example, being able to disengage and re-engage in support as required. As a result, participant journeys will differ in nature and pace, and progression and achievements will vary based on what a positive outcome means to that individual. This means broadening our understanding of success from a focus on job outcomes to focus on the actual steps taken and progress made towards work.

The SMF publication is not a final product and more work is required to develop certain areas and themes. We will gradually develop and align our statistics reporting to the recommendations made by the Framework over time. They will be particularly important to help us understand the journeys and achievements of those who are furthest away from the labour market and to develop the range of data that we publish. The experimental statistics presented here on the progression of participants supported by No One Left Behind represent the first step in that process.

We first published statistics on the achievements of those supported by No One Left Behind in February 2021 for year 1 participants, derived from the aggregate data that was collected during that period. Since then we have developed year 1 data and combined it with data currently collected for subsequent periods, which has allowed us to provide more detailed information for year 1 participants, including their achievements.^[31]

Progression of participants: What are the achievements of those supported by No One Left Behind so far?

Of the 24,907 people supported under the No One Left Behind approach between April 2019 and March 2022, 8,289 people (33%) entered employment. Of those that entered employment; 4,042 people (49%) were supported by a subsidy to do so and 1,018 people (12%) started modern apprenticeships. Additionally, 3,178 people supported (13%) entered further or higher education or training,^[32] 2,497 people (10%) gained a qualification and 1,394 people (6%) started work experience opportunities.

Please note, the following statistics on parents are from Year 2 (April 2020) onwards. Of the 4,840 parents supported under the No One Left Behind approach, 1,057 people (22%) started employment. Of those that started employment; 249 people (24%) were supported by a subsidy to do so and 12 people (1%) started modern apprenticeships. Additionally, 313 people supported (6%) entered further or higher education or training,^[33] 601 people (12%) gained a qualification and 92 people (2%) started work experience opportunities.

Developing these statistics

We continue to publish data on people receiving employability support delivered under the No One Left Behind strategic approach. Publishing these statistics will contribute to understanding the impact of the approach, by providing information over time about participant journeys and achievements.

As part of our plans to develop these statistics, in this publication we have expanded the scope of our data to include the achievements of parents that are receiving employability support delivered under the No One Left Behind approach. In addition, within the progression tables in the accompanying tables of this publication, we have added information on other positive outcomes such as starting volunteering and achieving an increase in income.

As delivery under No One Left Behind is expanded over time (see the Delivery Plan) and we learn more about which data are important to report on to describe the journeys of the people who receive support, we will develop a range of statistics that are appropriate. Whilst we expect to produce some statistics that are similar to those for FSS, the range of data that we use and how we present them is likely to change and evolve over time, building a picture of the whole user journey. As already described, a key product to help us realise that ambition is the Shared Measurement Framework.

Feedback

To ensure the statistics are developed in a way which is useful to users, we will be asking for views on a range of topics as the development work described above is taken forward. If you have comments or questions in the meantime please contact: employabilitydata@gov.scot.