Background Information

1. Official and Experimental Statistics

Statistics for No One Left Behind are experimental statistics. Experimental statistics are defined by the Code of Practice for Statistics as ‘a subset of newly developed or innovative official statistics undergoing evaluation, that are published in order to involve users and stakeholders in the assessment of their suitability and quality at an early stage’.

Statistics for Fair Start Scotland are official statistics – they are no longer classified as experimental statistics. This early stage has now passed, with user feedback used to improve the publication, though any comments or feedback are still welcome.

More detail on designation of statistics can be found at: UK Statistics Authority - Types of official statistics (opens in a new window).

2. Reporting Periods

• No One Left Behind: This publication reports on all participants who received support from 1 April 2019 to March 2023 except for parents, where data covers the period from 1 April 2020 to March 2023.
• Fair Start Scotland: This publication reports on all referrals and starts from 13 March 2018 to the end of the most recent quarter (31 March 2023). The service was launched on 3 April 2018. There was an opportunity for referrals to be made and starts to be recorded for a short period prior to the launch of the service, commencing 13 March 2018. Referrals and starts which occurred before the official launch of the service are reported along with the April 2018 data.

3. No One Left Behind Background Information

Data collection

All participant data is collected and recorded on management information systems by Scottish Local Authorities. Data returns are submitted to the Scottish Government on a quarterly basis. No centralised recording system is in place.

Statistics on No One Left Behind outcomes were first published in February 2021 for year 1 participants, derived from the aggregate data that was collected during that period. Since then year 1 data has been developed and combined with data currently collected for subsequent periods, which has allowed more detailed information for year 1 participants, including their achievements to be released.

Scottish Government carry out quality assurance on data returned, for example ensuring values are returned in the correct range and comparisons are made over time and between Local Authorities. There are specific areas of data quality which Scottish Government is working on improving with Local Authorities as shown in the table below.

Data quality

Potential source of risk or error	Description	Mitigation
Start dates	Participants can disengage and re-engage for support as often as they need, potentially with a long period of time between engagements. While Local Authorities are encouraged to always report a participant's initial start date and not to update when a participant re-engages, start dates have been updated in some cases. This leads to participants shifting between quarters and leads to variations in both overall numbers, as well as those reported for each characteristic, between quarters.	We are working closely with all 32 Local Authorities to rectify this issue. The importance of not updating start dates when a participant re-engages is written in the corresponding data guidance.   We quality assure individual Local Authority reports and go back to specific Local Authorities when needed.   Issue discussed at Scottish and Local Government Data and Reporting Group which meets every 6 weeks to discuss data collection.
Unique IDs	Unique IDs should be unique to each participant, and should remain the same for their duration of support. However, Local Authorities might have more than one ID per person on their system, depending on their stage of support, or might potentially give a participant a new ID if they have been disengaged for a long time. This could lead to IDs changing over time and artificially inflate numbers. It also means we cannot link back to previous data recorded on our old template, and makes it difficult for us to identify if someone has achieved more than one outcome of the same type.	We are working closely with all 32 Local Authorities to rectify this issue. The importance of unique ID remaining the same for each participant is written in the corresponding data guidance.   We quality assure individual Local Authority reports and go back to specific Local Authorities when needed.   The introduction of NI number can help identify unique individuals.
Reporting of participants	Each quarter, we ask Local Authorities to report all new participants for the new quarter, in addition to all previously reported participants, providing updated information where appropriate. While some details can be updated (e.g. disability status and outcome details), the actual individuals reported should remain the same as previous quarters. However, in some cases participants disappear from previous quarters, or new ones appear. This leads to variations in both overall numbers, as well as those reported for each characteristic, between quarters.	We are working closely with all 32 Local Authorities to rectify this issue. Guidelines of the data that Local Authorities need to provide is written in the corresponding data guidance.   We quality assure individual Local Authority reports and go back to specific Local Authorities when needed.
General	When comparing current data with previous quarters, we sometimes find numbers of certain groups (parents, under 25, and 25 and over) appear to decline or see minimal change. There are a number of potential reasons for this: Changes and upgrades to management information systems. This can lead to issues, for example, participants being missed where they have been reported from external delivery partners. This should improve over time. Updated information on parental status, for instance, whether a participant lives with dependent children. Only parents still living with dependent children are counted in the total for parents. Duplicated entries from earlier reports have been fixed and removed from the current report. Participants incorrectly being removed when they reach the end of their 52 week sustainment period. As there are no more updates for these individuals, some Local Authorities might incorrectly remove them. Between quarters 3 (Oct-Dec) and 4 (Jan-Mar), changes might be small due to it being quieter over the Christmas period.	We are working closely with all 32 Local Authorities to rectify these issues. Guidelines of the data that Local Authorities need to provide is written in the corresponding data guidance.   We quality assure individual Local Authority reports and go back to specific Local Authorities when needed.

Starts

People are registered to start receiving support by a Local Authority Key Worker.

Ethnicity

The No One Left Behind data template collects ethnic group data as defined by the Scottish Government’s recommended question (2022 Census) on ethnic group using the question: What is your ethnic group?

The following options are available:

• A. White – (Scottish), (Other British), (Irish), (Gypsy Traveller), (Polish), (Roma), (Showman / Showwoman), (Other)
• B. Mixed or multiple ethnic groups
• C. Asian/Asian Scottish/Asian British – (Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish, Pakistani British), (Indian, Indian Scottish, Indian British), (Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish, Bangladeshi British), (Chinese, Chinese Scottish, Chinese British), (Other)
• D. African/Scottish African/British African – (African Scottish, African British), (Other)
• E. Caribbean or Black – (Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish, Caribbean British), (Black, Black Scottish, Black British), (Caribbean or Black – Other)
• F. Other Ethnic Group – (Arab, Arab Scottish, Arab British), (Other ethnic group)
• G. – (Prefer not to say), (Not recorded)

It is important that results should be presented in as much detail as possible but this is often not possible due to small numbers, therefore categories are often combined. While this may hide inequalities that occur between separate ethnic groups, it allows some analysis by ethnicity to be carried out.

For the purposes of this report, category A is presented as White, and categories B, C, D, E, and F are presented as Minority Ethnic. Category G is categorised as Unknown. The term “Minority Ethnic” aids narrative and provides a concise terminology. The terminology used aligns with Scottish Government guidance (opens in a new window).

More detailed breakdowns by ethnicity will be included in future editions when sample sizes allow.

Disability

The guidance for collecting data issued to Scottish Local Authorities specifies that disability status should be recorded as defined by the Equality Act (2010). Further information can be found here: Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010 (opens in a new window).

Employment

In general, anybody who carries out at least one hour’s paid work in a week, or is temporarily away from a job (e.g. on holiday) is in employment. Also counted as in employment are people who are on government supported training schemes and people who do unpaid work for their family’s business.

Only Employer Recruitment Incentives (ERIs), in-work training allowances and Intermediate Labour Market (ILM) opportunities paid directly to the employer count toward the total of entering employment. Other subsidies such as Long Term Unemployed opportunities, Young Person’s Training Allowance and ILM opportunities not paid directly to the employer are not counted towards employment.

Modern apprenticeships and self-employment count towards entering employment. Participants may be counted as starting a modern apprenticeship or entering self-employment and as receiving a subsidy such as ERI or in-work training allowance.

Further/Higher Education Outcomes

Courses expected to achieve a minimum qualification of National Certificate (NC), or equivalent. NCs are designed for full-time delivery over one year (or part-time over two years). They are aimed at 16-18 year olds or adults in full-time education and are at SCQF Levels 2-6. For more information see: National Certificates (NCs) and National Progression Awards (NPAs) - SQA (opens in new window).

Comparisons with other employment services’ data

No One Left Behind and Fair Start Scotland are different approaches to employability support and can vary in what support is offered and what groups are targeted. This is likely to impact on both the demographics and outcomes of participants across both approaches. It is therefore not recommended to make direct comparisons.

For other services across the UK, features of service design (e.g. whether voluntary or mandatory, eligibility criteria) and definitions (e.g. how job outcomes are measured) may differ to a greater extent.

4. Fair Start Scotland Background Information

Tables

Detailed statistics on the number of referrals to FSS, number of starts and job outcomes are presented in the accompanying tables, numbered 16 to 29. The caveats that apply to national data also apply to Local Authority data.

Data sources

The Scottish Employability Tracking System (SETS) is the Scottish Government referrals tracking system for FSS. Information on those referred to FSS (‘referrals’) and outcomes relating to those individuals, including those who join FSS (‘starts’), enter employment (‘job starts’), and subsequently achieve employment outcomes (‘job outcomes’), is recorded on SETS. It tracks the progress of referrals made to the service and provides management information in relation to performance.

The statistics in this release are based on figures extracted from SETS on 24 April 2023. 

Information provided by service providers

The statistics on age, gender, long-term health conditions, disability and ethnic group are derived from information collected by service providers when an individual joins FSS. Information is usually collected via a combination of face-to-face interviews, SG equalities monitoring forms, phone conversations and electronic questionnaires using SG recommended questions and published using related output classifications.

Methodology

Referral

The referral numbers published in this release are net figures, which excludes 2,951 rejected referrals. The vast majority of these were duplicates.

Starts

The ‘start rate’ i.e. the percentage of people who joined FSS is calculated by dividing the number of starts by the number of referrals within a given period. People who were referred in the most recent quarter, particularly at the end, may not have had time to join the service by the end of the month. Because of this, the start rate for the most recent quarter should not be used for considering the overall performance of the service.

Before April 2021, participants were only able to receive support from FSS once, therefore the number of starts on the service is the same as the number of unique people who have received support in years 1 to 3. With the extension of FSS beyond the initial three year period, from April 2021 people who have previously received support may re-join the service. There must be a break of at least 13 weeks since the person left FSS to become eligible. As a result of this change, the total number of starts in FSS, from the beginning of year 4 onwards and thus overall, is not the same as the number of people who have received support.

Early leavers

An early leaver is someone who exits the service before the end of the pre-employment support period without achieving an employment outcome.

Job starts

When an individual progresses into work, service providers record a ‘job start’ for the individual on SETS. An individual can enter employment more than once; however the figures in this publication are for the first recorded job. For individuals that re-join FSS, where applicable, their first recorded job during their initial period on the service will be counted as will their first recorded job during any subsequent periods on the service.

Employment outcomes

• A 3 month (13 week) 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 13 weeks out of 16; that is, continuous employment, but not necessarily in the same job, lasting 13 out of 16 weeks.
• A 6 month (26 week) 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).
• A 1 year (12 month, 52 week) 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 52 weeks out of 60; that is, continuous employment, but not necessarily in the same job, lasting 52 out of 60 weeks (breaks in employment must total no more than 8 weeks).

Disability

Disability is defined by two questions: i) Do you have a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more? ii) Does your condition or illness reduce your ability to carry-out day-to-day activities?

If the answer to the first question is "yes", and the answer to the second is either "yes, a lot" or "yes, a little" then the participant is disabled as defined by the Equality Act (2010).

Ethnicity

The Fair Start Scotland data template collects ethnic group data as follows:

• A. White – (Scottish), (Other British), (Irish), (Gypsy Traveller), (Polish), (Other white ethnic group)
• B. Mixed or multiple ethnic groups
• C. Asian/Asian Scottish/Asian British – (Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish, Pakistani British), (Indian, Indian Scottish, Indian British), (Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish, Bangladeshi British), (Chinese, Chinese Scottish, Chinese British), (Other)
• D. African – (African, African Scottish, African British), (Other)
• E. Caribbean or Black – (Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish, Caribbean British), (Black, Black Scottish, Black British)
• F. Other Ethnic Group – (Arab, Arab Scottish, Arab British), (Other)
• G – Not Recorded – (Not recorded)

It is important that results should be presented in as much detail as possible but this is often not possible due to small numbers, therefore categories are often combined. While this may hide inequalities that occur between separate ethnic groups, it allows some analysis by ethnicity to be carried out.

For the purposes of this report, category A is presented as White, and categories B, C, D, E, and F are presented as Minority Ethnic. Category G is categorised as Unknown. The term “Minority Ethnic” aids narrative and provides a concise terminology. The terminology used aligns with Scottish Government guidance (opens in a new window).

More detailed breakdowns by ethnicity will be included in future editions when sample sizes allow.

Parents

Data on lone parents was collected from the launch of FSS in April 2018. Data on age of youngest child and number of dependent children was additionally collected from late 2019 and we worked with providers to implement and improve the collection of this data for the remainder of year 2, resulting in better quality data for year 3 onwards. As a result, the percentage of parents increases over time, but this is likely to be a result of data collection changes rather than changes to the number of parents supported.

The Scottish Government has identified a number of ‘priority family groups’ at risk of child poverty, further information can be found here: Tackling child poverty priority families overview (opens in a new window).

Please note that the data presented in this publication and the supplementary statistical tables differs in some aspects from the priority family group definitions due mainly to its focus on participants rather than family units. For example, the data covers participants accessing FSS support that are disabled parents but does not include families with a disabled child, therefore differing from the ‘families with a disabled adult or child’ priority family type.

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD - opens in a new window) is a relative measure of deprivation across 6,976 small areas (called data zones). If an area is identified as ‘deprived’, this can relate to people having a low income but it can also mean fewer resources or opportunities. People living in areas with higher levels of deprivation may find it more difficult to find employment.

Urban Rural Classification

The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification (opens in a new window) provides a consistent way of defining urban and rural areas across Scotland. The classification is based upon population, as defined by the National Records of Scotland, and accessibility, based on drive time analysis to differentiate between accessible and remote areas in Scotland. The classification is available in multiple forms, including 2-fold as used in this publication, as well as 3-fold, 6-fold and 8-fold classifications.

Data quality

Some inconsistencies in responses to the questions on long-term health conditions and disability, as reported by service providers, were identified and amended as follows:

Of those people who responded ‘No’ to the question asking whether respondents had a physical or mental health condition lasting, or expected to last 12 months or more:

• 5,560 starts answered the second question on extent of limitation (128 yes, a lot; 577 yes, a little; 4,855 not at all). These responses were excluded from the totals.
• 3,000 starts reported one or more long-term health condition (3,555 conditions in total were recorded). These conditions have been excluded from the count of long-term health conditions.

Comparisons with other employment services’ data

Please use caution when comparing FSS data with data from other employment services across the UK, as features of service design (e.g. whether voluntary or mandatory, eligibility criteria) and definitions (e.g. how job outcomes are measured) may differ.

Local Authority data

Please use caution in interpreting data at lower levels of geography, as numbers are small in some instances and there are many factors contributing to variations in totals across Local Authorities. The Scottish Government’s evaluation of year 1 of FSS suggests factors include the local reputation of FSS staff, the prior roles of staff and the reputation of previous services, the range of other existing services available in the area, the relationship between FSS provider staff and JCP work coaches, and the range and scale of local job opportunities.

Impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on Fair Start Scotland

This publication includes data for FSS over a period from March 2020 onwards when the COVID-19 pandemic, associated public health measures and economic and labour market impacts have caused several changes which impact the statistics published here.

Key changes to FSS include the following:

1) Early in the pandemic, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) refocused their work to deal with the increased demand for benefit claims, so FSS referrals from DWP were paused between April and June 2020.

2) As a result of this, there was an increase in the proportion of referrals to FSS through other avenues, particularly from FSS providers’ own marketing efforts.

3) FSS switched from face-to-face interaction to delivery via phone calls and online interaction. This affected the equalities data collected, with a decrease in people disclosing information on protected characteristics like ethnicity on joining FSS. Data collection methods were adapted to the new circumstances in consideration of data protection guidance. It also caused disruption to some providers where data was held in the workplace and was not available to staff working from home. There were particularly high levels of missing data for ethnicity in July to September 2020. Data collection has since improved. During the quarter April-June 2021 some providers had a limited return to meeting participants in person, depending on the local situation and participant’s preference.

4) There was a relaxation of rules specifying how often participants must be in contact with providers, from March to September 2020. This meant that some people who would otherwise be considered to have left the service during this period stayed on FSS.

5) There were fewer job vacancies in Scotland for approximately one year. ONS data  showed a sharp reduction in job vacancies in Scotland during April 2020 to approximately 40% of the level seen in February 2020, finally returning to February 2020 levels by April 2021. Lower levels of job vacancies would be expected to affect rates of job starts and outcomes in FSS, but numbers of job starts in FSS didn’t necessarily follow trends in job vacancies.

5. Previous editions of this publication

This publication has previously reported on Work First Scotland (WFS), Work Able Scotland (WAS), and the Health & Work Support pilot in Dundee and Fife. These services have now closed. The final statistics for WFS and WAS were published 26 February 2020 (Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary - February 2020 (opens in a new window)), and the final statistics for the Health & Work Support pilot were published 27 May 2020 (Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary - May 2020 (opens in a new window)).

Other services operate within Scotland, including those run by Local Authorities and third sector providers, and these are not included in this publication.

6. Coherence

Links to other relevant documents and published collections:

• Fair Start Scotland Year Three Evaluation Report (opens in new window)
• Fair Start Scotland Year Two Evaluation Report (opens in a new window)
• Fair Start Scotland Year One Evaluation Report (opens in new window)
• Fair Start Scotland: Year 4 Annual Report (opens in new window)
• Fair Start Scotland: Year 4 Annual Report Accompanying Statistics (opens in new window)
• A range of Labour Market Statistics for Scotland are published by the Scottish Government: Labour market statistics (opens in new window)

7. Glossary of Acronyms

Acronym	Meaning
COVID-19	Coronavirus Disease 2019
DWP	Department for Work and Pensions
ERI	Employment Recruitment Incentives
FSS	Fair Start Scotland
ID	Identification
ILM	Intermediate Labour Market
JCP	Jobcentre Plus
LTHC	Long-term Health Condition
NC	National Certificate
NOLB	No One Left Behind
ONS	Office for National Statistics
SETS	Scottish Employability Tracking System
SG	Scottish Government
SIMD	Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
SMF	Shared Measurement Framework
UK	United Kingdom
WAS	Work Able Scotland
WFS	Work First Scotland

8. Tell us what you think

We are always interested to hear from our users about how our statistics are used, and how they can be improved.

Please consider answering our short survey (opens in new window) on how you found this publication.

9. Correspondence and enquiries

For enquiries about this publication, please contact:

Employability Statistics Team

E-mail: employabilitydata@gov.scot

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics, please contact:

Office of the Chief Statistician

Telephone: 0131 244 0442

E-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

10. Complaints and suggestions

If you are not satisfied with our service or have any comments or suggestions, please write to:

Chief Statistician

St Andrews House

Edinburgh

EH1 3DG

Telephone: (0131) 244 0302

e-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

If you would like to be consulted about statistical collections or receive notification of publications, please register your interest at www.gov.scot/scotstat

Details of forthcoming publications can be found at www.gov.scot/statistics

ISSN <ISSN number>         ISBN <ISBN number>

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You may use or re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. See: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ (opens in a new window)

Next Update

25 October 2023