Question reference: S5W-33084
- Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 6 November 2020
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 November 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with year two delivery of Fair Start Scotland.
Answer
Fair Start Scotland (FSS) is Scotland’s flagship devolved employability support service, which helps those further removed from the labour market to find and stay in work.
Today we have published the second Fair Start Scotland Annual Report. It gives an overview of progress throughout 2019-20, highlighting how the service has matured in the last year, including improvements in building effective local partnerships to deliver support successfully to a broader range of participants. It is available from SPICe at SG/2020/245.
We are also publishing Fair Start Scotland Evaluation Report 3: Overview of year 2. This is the third FSS evaluation report, and details the research that supports the second year of service delivery up to 31 March 2020. The report includes findings from a telephone survey of over 1000 participants; local area case studies; feedback from the Scottish Government Social Security Experience Panel and analysis of management information on participants’ outcomes. The report will be available on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800042322
The Annual Report and evaluation findings demonstrate how Fair Start Scotland continues to make a difference to participants, employers and communities, whilst also highlighting the challenges we face in the coming year from the economic impacts of Covid-19 and forthcoming EU Exit.
These challenges are likely to have a profound and lasting impact on FSS delivery and our ambitions. As I reported in September, it is unlikely that we will to meet our ambition to support 38,000 people by 31 March 2021. However, we will continue to work with FSS Service Providers and partners to promote the service, ensuring that those who are eligible and would benefit from Fair Start Scotland support, are able to do so.
Through our “test and learn” approach we will continue to make improvements to the service, working closely with our partners and participants to ensure they continue to receive a quality, tailored service with dignity and respect at the centre of their support.
I announced in July that we will extend Fair Start Scotland for a further two years until 31 March 2023, as part of our COVID-19 economic recovery plans. By continuing to invest in this service, we will allow more people to participate and ensure support is in place for those who need it most.
We will continue to focus on working in partnership with local government and the third sector, to deliver our ambition that no one is left behind. This will help us to realise our vision for locally integrated and flexible employability support, that both delivers for individuals and provides value for money.