Chamber and committees

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) is an annual, large-scale social survey which asks people about their experiences and perceptions of crime in Scotland. It includes a module on sexual victimisation, which produces estimates of adults’ experiences of different types of sexual assault. At present this does not include a question on experiences of violence during what began as consensual sexual activity.

We are currently progressing set up of a new multi-year run of the SCJS, following a recent re-procurement exercise. As part of this ongoing work we will consider in 2023-24 whether a question on this specific topic could be added to the above module. Given the subject sensitivity, this requires careful consideration and testing prior to any roll-out, to ensure such a question is understandable, accessible and doesn’t place undue stress on survey respondents.

Such a change would build on the continuous improvements being made to the survey, whereby we are currently cognitively testing and piloting a new survey module on Partner Abuse and new and updated questions on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). These areas were identified as a key priority by survey users in last year’s consultation .

Official statistics for Fair Start Scotland (FSS) are published quarterly by the Scottish Government. The most recent publication was on 22 February 2023 ( Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary February 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) and includes demographic breakdowns such as for participants with learning disabilities. The latest official statistics show:

Start and job outcomes for FSS participants with a learning disability, by start year

The Scottish Government publishes yearly evaluation studies and annual reports of Fair Start Scotland. These contain data on the impact and experience of disabled people, as part of the overall reporting on the service. These evaluations have not specifically or separately considered the experiences and outcomes for people with learning disabilities. All evaluation reports relating to Fair Start Scotland are available on the Scottish Government website and are listed below. The first evaluation of No One Left Behind is currently underway and a report will be published in early Summer 2023. This will not specifically consider the experiences of people with learning disabilities.

Tables which accompany the quarterly publication Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary provide equalities information for participants on Fair Start Scotland, which includes data for disabled people and people with learning disabilities. The data reporting template for people receiving support through No One Left Behind has recently been expanded to capture where people have a learning disability, learning difficulty, autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disorders (such as ADHD). This data will be published as part of the quarterly statistical reporting in due course.

We have also undertaken a review of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and of Supported Employment to identify areas of improvement and make recommendations on future delivery of these two forms of specialist employability support in Scotland. These reviews, along with Scottish Government responses, were also published on our website and are listed below.

Evaluation reports for Fair Start Scotland

Implementation Review:

Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 1: implementation and early delivery review

Evaluation Report 2

Overview Report:

Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 2: overview of year one - November 2019

Participant Phone Survey:

Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 2: participant phone survey - November 2019

Local Area Case Studies:

Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 2: local area case studies - November 2019

Evaluation Report 3

Overview Report:

Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 3: year two - overview

Participant Phone Survey:

Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 3: participant phone survey - year 2

Local Area Case Studies:

Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 3: local area case studies - year 2

Annual Evaluation Report 4

Overview Report:

Fair Start Scotland: evaluation report 4 - year 3 overview

Participant Phone Survey:

Fair Start Scotland: evaluation report 4 - participant phone survey - year 3

Local Area Case Studies:

Fair Start Scotland: evaluation report 4 - local area case studies - year 3

Economic Evaluation:

Fair Start Scotland: economic evaluation

Individual Placement and Support Review

Fair Start Scotland - individual placement and support review: findings

Support Employment Review

Supported employment: review report and Scottish Government response

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of robust data and caveated evidence to build understanding of the inequalities experienced by people with learning disabilities.

Therefore, we have been collaborating with our partners through the Keys to Life, the Scottish Strategy for Autism and the Towards Transformation Plan to take forward research to better understand the daily lives of people with learning disabilities and autistic people and the inequalities/barriers they face.

The Scottish Government has also commissioned the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory (SLDO) to understand the health equalities and barriers faced by people with learning disabilities. SLDO reports and their methods can be found on their website.

Similarly, the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability (SCLD) also produced a variety of evidence-based reports to inform the development of policy around experience of people with learning disabilities including employment, hate crime, health, social care, parenting and human rights. Through the pandemic SCLD also produced the How's Life Survey and provides a snapshot of the lives of people with learning disabilities through the pandemic. They also work alongside Public Health Scotland to produce routine Learning Disability Statistics Scotland using census data.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring people with learning disabilities have access to data that is important to them, including evidence about employment and employability in Scotland.

To achieve this Scottish Government are working with our partners to refocus data collection efforts to encompass the whole life journey through a Learning Disability and Autism Data Action Plan.

The Scottish Government’s ‘There’s More to Care than Caring’ campaign launched 27 January 2020 and has run four times, with the latest activity starting on 23 January 2023 and due to conclude on 20 March 2023. We have evaluation data from the previous 3 campaigns, which details the achievements of the campaign in regards to engagement with the audience however this information is not broken down into subsectors across social care.

The Scottish Government works closely with key stakeholders to assess all factors that impact recruitment and retention for third sector providers in the adult social care sector.

The Scottish Government recognises the effect that wider pay settlements may have and that is why a further £100 million is being provided to Local Government to ensure a £10.90 per hour minimum wage for adult social care workers in commissioned services from April 2023. This includes workers in third sector providers and takes Scottish Government recurring funding for adult social care pay in commissioned services to £0.6 billion per year. It is worth noting that the £10.90 per hour rate is the minimum rate of pay for these workers and many providers choose to pay more than these minimums. The Scottish Government will continue to engage with third sector social care providers to understand how this funding is contributing toward supporting recruitment and retention.

The SSSC collect workforce data, which is published in their annual workforce report in August of each year. The most recent report covers 2021 workforce data. From this we know that across all social care services, the highest levels of stability are seen in the public sector. The Scottish Government will continue to analyse the data to inform what support is required.

Evidence about the number of people with learning disabilities in Scotland is collected through the Learning Disability Statistics Scotland publication. The most recent publication, published in 2019, found there were 23,584 adults with learning disabilities known to local authorities across Scotland.

Officials are in discussions with Public Health Scotland and the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities about how Learning Disability Statistics Scotland will be improved to provide the most precise picture of people with learning disabilities across Scotland.

Scottish Government understands the important of reliable evidence about people with learning disabilities and has committed to improving the evidence base through its autism and learning/intellectual disability transformation plan 'Towards Transformation'.

The Scottish Government has published analysis relating to the overall Disability Employment Gap in Scotland in Fairer Scotland for disabled people - employment action plan: progress report - year 2 . The most recent data on the Disability Employment Gap for Scotland were published in Scotland's Labour Market: People, Places and Regions – Protected Characteristics . In 2021, the disability employment gap was 31.2 percentages points, down from 37.4 percentage points in 2016.

In 2021, the Scottish Government published key statistics relating to the economic status of disabled people in the labour market in Scotland . This publication contains information from the Annual Population Survey (APS) January to December 2019 on employment rates for disabled people by main condition including those whose main condition was a mental health condition (Table 16).

A similar analysis will be updated and published by the Scottish Government in 2023 showing employment rate gaps by health problem or disability for January to December 2022.

Scottish Government’s recently published Fair Work Action Plan takes forward the next phase of actions to drive forward Fair Work. The plan includes actions aimed at reducing the Disability Employment Gap.

The Fair Work Action Plan will be supported by an evidence plan to be published in late 2023, along with an accompanying measurement framework. It will monitor the fair work context and progress we are making over time to ensure our actions respond to change and measure the impact of our current actions, including drawing lessons from actions we will deliver as part of this plan.

The Scottish Government has considered the impact of the actions of the Employment Action Plan on all disabled people, including people with learning disabilities, and noted these in the 2020 and 2021 annual Progress Reports which are published on the Scottish Government website.

On 22 February 2023 the Scottish Government published a statistical summary of the devolved employment services, which includes employability figures for learning disabilities within Fair Start Scotland. There is currently no data published for employment for learning disabilities within No One Left Behind.

We have undertaken a review of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and of Supported Employment to identify areas of improvement and make recommendations on future delivery of these two forms of specialist employability support in Scotland. Findings of the Supported Employment review and Scottish Government’s response were published in September 2022. The Individual Placement and Support review report was published January 2023, alongside the Scottish Government’s response statement.

Recognising that there is still work to do to improve outcomes for disabled people, in December 2022 the Scottish Government published the refreshed Fair Work Action Plan: becoming a leading Fair Work nation by 2025 , setting out actions to promote fair and inclusive workplaces across Scotland. The plan takes forward the current work on the disability employment gap, to support more disabled people, including those with Learning Disabilities, into employment and to sustain fair work.

The Action Plan will be supported by an evidence plan to be published late 2023, along with an accompanying measurement framework. It will monitor the fair work context and progress we are making over time to ensure our actions respond to change and measure the impact of our current actions, including drawing lessons from actions we will deliver as part of this plan.