Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary May 2019

Fair Start Scotland (FSS)

The Scottish Government launched Fair Start Scotland (FSS) on 3 April 2018. It is a voluntary employability service that aims to support 38,000 people over a 3 year referral period. 

The service is designed to meet the needs of those who face a range of challenges in obtaining work, including people with a disability or health condition, people with convictions, care-experienced young people, single parents, refugees, ethnic minorities, and people who live in some of the most deprived areas in Scotland. More information about the service can be found here.

Information on how we measure each stage of the participant journey through FSS can be found in the Background Information section of this publication. Tables 1 to 14 in the accompanying Excel tables refer to FSS data, with Tables 15 to 79 providing Local Authority breakdowns.

How many people joined, up to 29 March 2019?

Of the 17,616 referrals made, 58%^[1] of those referrals went on to join the service. In its first year, a total of 10,063 people joined FSS. 2,838 participants had left the service early.

How many people entered and sustained employment, up to 29 March 2019?

A total of 2,013 people had started jobs. 898 of those people had sustained employment for at least 13 weeks and 418 had sustained employment for at least 26 weeks. 

Of the participants who sustained employment, 85% (767) of those achieving 13 week outcomes, and 98% (411) of those achieving 26 week oucomes, joined FSS during the first 6 months of the service. 

Since participants can receive pre-employment support for up to 12 months (or 18 months in some cases), we need to allow enough time for enough people to achieve outcomes before we can accurately calculate outcome rates (the proportion of people who join FSS who go on to achieve employment outcomes). Confirmation of when we will publish outcome rates will be announced in the next publication (August 2019).

Figure 1: Participant journeys on Fair Start Scotland, up to 29 March 2019

Figure 2 shows an influx of referrals in the first three months (Q1) following service launch. The first quarter of 2019 saw an increase both in referrals (46%) and starts (48%), compared to the last quarter of 2018.

Figure 2: Employment support referrals and starts, Fair Start Scotland, up to 29 March 2019 

From the information we gathered about participants on Fair Start Scotland, we know:

• More males (65%) than females (35%) achieved 13 week and 26 week job outcomes. This reflects the profile of people joining the service (64% male, 35% female).  For background information, the gender split in the Scottish unemployed population is 55% male, 45% female^[2].
• The distributions for age group and gender were broadly similar for those achieving both 13 week and 26 week job outcomes. 
• The proportion of people aged under 35 who achieved both 13 week (44% male, 47% female) and 26 week (45% male, 42% female) job outcomes, was higher than the proportion of all participants in the same age group (38% male, 37% female). Conversely, the proportion of people aged 50 years or older who achieved both 13 week (26% male, 24% female) and 26 week (26% male, 23% female) job outcomes was lower than the proportion of all participants in the same age group (30% male, 29% female).  
• 4% of people joining FSS reported being from minority ethnic groups (78% white; 18% unknown). Similar proportions are seen for those achieving 13 week (4% minority ethnic; 82% white, 14% unknown) and 26 week (5% minority ethnic; 80% white; 16% unknown) job outcomes.

Figure 3: Age and gender profile of FSS participants, and those achieving 13 weekand 26 week job outcomes, up to 29 March 2019

• 64% of those joining FSS reported having a long-term health condition. The proportions of those achieving 13 week or 26 week job outcomes who reported a long-term health condition were broadly similar (65% and 67%, respectively).
• 50% of those achieving 13 week job outcomes, and 51% of those achieving 26 week job outcomes (both with 4% unknowns), reported having a disability. This is slightly higher than FSS participants overall (47%; note this calculation included 15% for whom disability status is unknown).

Figure 4: Long-term health conditions and extent of limitation, FSS participants, up to 29 March 2019

Figure 5: Long-term health conditions and extent of limitation, FSS participants achieving 13 week job outcomes, up to 29 March 2019

Figure 6: Long-term health conditions and extent of limitation, FSS participants achieving 26 week job outcomes, up to 29 March 2019

• The overall distribution of different long-term health conditions reported was similar for all participants who joined FSS and those achieving job outcomes.
• 35% of those joining the service reported having a mental health condition. The proportions of those achieving 13 week or 26 week job outcomes who reported having a mental health condition were broadly similar (37% and 38%, respectively).
• Of those achieving job outcomes, a higher proportion reported only one long-term health condition (53% for 13 week outcomes, 54% for 26 week outcomes) than those who joined the service (49%).

Figure 7: Long-term health conditions, all FSS participants and those achieving 13 week and 26 week job outcomes, up to 29 March 2019