Question reference: S5W-33948
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 9 December 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 December 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures suggesting that the number of disabled people joining the Fair Start Scotland programme has been declining annually, from 55% participation in Year 1 to 27% in Year 3.
Answer
The figure of 27% quoted only represents the first quarter of Year 3, from April to June 2020.
In the most recent quarter (July – September 2020) there was a large increase in the proportion of unknown equalities monitoring data gathered by FSS Service Providers, therefore it is not possible to report on the change in the proportion of disabled people during this time.
We recognise the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Fair Start Scotland where people with health concerns or disabilities have become less inclined to engage with services during this time. This has also had an impact on collection of the equalities monitoring data.
While there has been a drop in the overall percentage of people with disabilities joining the service, the proportion (27%) remains broadly in line with the Scottish unemployed population as a whole, 30% of whom report having a disability. ( Source: ONS, Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec 2019).
As part of our continuous improvement activities with FSS Service Providers over the coming year, we aim to extend the reach of the service to disabled people, ethnic minorities and other groups as suggested by our evaluation feedback and performance data.
The Scottish Government remains committed to at least halving the disability employment gap in Scotland by 2038, and statistics show that there has been a steady growth in employment rates for disable people in between 2014 and 2019 from 41.5% to 49% (Source: ONS, Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec data).