Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland: statistical summary February 2018

Technical Annex

Reporting period

2017, Quarters 1, 2 and 3: 3 April to 29 December.

Starts on WFS and WAS (those with a recorded start date) after 29 December 2017 are included in the numbers joining the services where they result from referrals which fall within the period 3 April to 29 December 2017, except in relation to the numbers of, and information supplied by service providers for WFS and WAS participants.

The number of participants with a recorded start date after 29 December 2017 was 75 for Work First Scotland, and 7 for Work Able Scotland.

Minor revisions to previously published numbers of WFS and WAS referrals and starts are included in these statistics, because the numbers of WFS and WAS referrals and starts are derived from live databases, which are subject to amendment on an on-going basis, and are not final until all participants have exited the services and outcomes have been verified.

Work First Scotland ( WFS)

Data sources

1. The Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP) Provider Referrals and Payments ( PRaP) system

Information on those referred ('referrals') to WFS and outcomes relating to those referrals, including those who join WFS ('starts'), is recorded by the DWP PRaP system. Service providers send monthly returns to DWP, containing information on outcomes for participants, including starts, as well as information relating to employment outcomes.

The Scottish Government receive monthly reports from PRaP, via DWP. The statistics in this release are based on the report generated on 31 January 2018. Clerical work was undertaken to obtain updated information from service providers for WFS referrals made during the period 3 April to 29 December 2017, that did not have a recorded outcome on PRaP in that report. This resulted in minor adjustments being made to the number of referrals and starts derived from the PRaP figures.

PRaP is a well-established system used by DWP. For additional quality assurance purposes, equivalent data as recorded by service providers on their caseload management systems is also reported to SG.

2. Information collected by service providers

The statistics on long-term health conditions, age, gender and ethnic group are derived from information collected by service providers. Information is collected by service providers when an individual joins WFS, including that on long-term health conditions which is required for service delivery purposes, and that on age, gender and ethnic group, which is required for equalities monitoring. Information is collected via a combination of face-to-face interviews, and SG equalities monitoring forms.

To produce the statistics in this release, service providers submitted returns to SG for all people recorded on their caseload management systems as having joined WFS (starts) in the period 3 April to 29 December 2017.

Providers also submit monthly reports to SG to allow quality assurance to be undertaken on the data as the number of participants on WFS accumulates over time.

WFS participant information is collected and presented using SG recommended questions and related output classifications.

Methodology

Referrals

The referral numbers published in this release are net figures, which exclude a small number of inappropriate referrals. Inappropriate referrals are those made for people who do not meet eligibility criteria or are not suitable for the service.

Starts

The total number of WFS starts used in the calculation of the percentage of people who joined the service between 3 April and 29 December 2017 (as described below) reflects the outcomes of referrals made during that time period, which includes some people who had a recorded start date after 29 December 2017, as recorded by the DWP PRaP system.

The number of starts recorded by service providers on their caseload management systems differs slightly from the number of starts recorded by the DWP PRaP system. There are minor differences in these totals because they are derived from separate administrative systems.

The percentage of people who join WFS is calculated by dividing the total number of starts which have resulted from the total number of referrals made during the period 3 April to 29 December 2017, as recorded by the DWP PRaP system. Referrals which are recorded as being inappropriate are excluded from the calculation.

WFS participant information is based on the total number of people who had a recorded start date on service provider caseload management systems which fell within the period 3 April to 29 December 2017.

Suppression and rounding

In line with disclosure control practices, to reduce the possibility of identifying an individual, where information on equalities characteristics is reported, categories are grouped so that numbers in each category are above 5, except when reporting on unknown characteristics.

Work Able Scotland ( WAS)

Data sources

1. Skills Development Scotland ( SDS) Corporate Training System ( CTS)

The figures on those who join WAS ('starts') are derived from information recorded and maintained on CTS by service providers. CTS is an IT system which supports the administration of programmes such as WAS. The system facilitates the processing of payments to training providers and the effective recording and monitoring of individuals' information. Data from CTS was used to provide the number of starts to WAS for this report .

2. Information collected by service providers

Referrals are reported to SDS directly by service providers.The agreed referral arrangements for WAS between DWP and SDS are based on a clerical process put in place between DWP and service providers. DWP makes referrals directly to service providers by post, using the WAS Referral form. Providers maintain records of referrals received and the outcome of those. Data integrity checks are carried out by SDS as part of monitoring activities on an on-going basis. This includes liaison with service providers in relation to any discrepancies. Final checks of totals were made prior to production of the referral figures used in this release.

Equalities monitoring information for WAS participants is collected using a SDS equalities monitoring form, which is consistent with the form used for capturing data for the 2016/17 published statistics on National Training Programmes (Modern Apprenticeships and Employability Fund).

Methodology

Referrals

The referral numbers published in this release are net figures, which exclude a small number of inappropriate referrals. Inappropriate referrals are those made for people who do not meet the eligibility criteria or are not suitable for the service.

Starts

The total number of WAS starts used in the calculation of the percentage of people who joined the service between 3 April and 29 December 2017 (as described below) reflects the outcomes of referrals made during that time period, which includes some people who had a recorded start date after 29 December 2017.

WAS participant information is based on the total number of people who had a recorded start date on CTS which fell within the period 3 April to 29 December 2017.

The percentage of people who join WAS is calculated by dividing the total number of starts which have resulted from the total number of referrals made during the period 3 April to 29 December 2017. This calculation uses number of referrals submitted by service providers, and number of starts recorded on CTS. Referrals which are recorded as being inappropriate are excluded from the calculation.

Suppression and rounding

In line with disclosure control practices, to reduce the possibility of identifying an individual, where information on equalities characteristics is reported, categories are grouped so that numbers in each category are above 5, except when reporting on unknown characteristics.