Question reference: S6W-00817
- Date lodged: 16 June 2021
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Current status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 July 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent each year on the Fair Start Scotland (FSS) programme in (a) Angus and (b) the rest of the country, and whether it will carry out an impact assessment of FSS to determine (i) its effectiveness and (ii) whether it is offering value for money.
Answer
Financial expenditure data relating to Fair Start Scotland is broken down by contract area, rather than by Local Authority area. For a breakdown of these contract areas, please refer to Annex A of the Fair Start Scotland Annual Report .
The anticipated spend on Fair Start Scotland is regularly published by the Scottish Fiscal Commission and is based on performance levels set within provider contracts. As this is dependent on provider performance in supporting people into sustainable employment this figure is subject to some variation.
The Scottish Government proactively publishes information relating to the annual spending on Fair Start Scotland. Annex B of the Fair Start Scotland Annual Report published on 9 th November 2020 outlines the total expenditure in its first two years of delivery. Further information on annual spend will be published in future publications.
The Scottish Government also publishes annual Evaluation reports that fully assess the effectiveness of the service. These reports include commissioned research with service users, delivery partners and providers, as well as ongoing analysis of performance. Links to the first two Evaluation reports can be found below. The next Evaluation report is due to be published in September 2021.
Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 3: year two - overview - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)