Two-thirds of people enrolled in a Scottish Government-backed jobs service are still out of work, a new report has found.
Fair Start Scotland, which was rolled out in April 2018, aims to bring 38,000 people into the workforce.
However, just 2,013 have started work so far and only 418 have sustained a job for six months.
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In its first year, 10,063 people started using the service, with an evaluation report by the Scottish Government finding 29 per cent of respondents to a phone survey said they were working, were self-employed, or did any paid work in the previous seven days.
A further 67 per cent said they were not in work.
The majority of participants in the programme, 70 per cent according to the report, were referred to Fair Start Scotland through their local Job Centre, however people were also able to engage with the project themselves, as well as be referred by third party organisations.
Despite the low numbers of people being helped into work, 92 per cent reported being treated with "dignity and respect" during the process, something the Scottish Government made one of the central values of the programme.
Fair work minister Jamie Hepburn said: "When we designed Fair Start Scotland we wanted it to be voluntary, flexible, responsive to people's needs and - most important of all - based on the principles of dignity and respect.
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"There is now strong evidence that this approach is working and that Fair Start Scotland is having a positive impact.
"I have met many people who have used the service over the last year and it's clear that the majority hugely value the support they receive.
"We will continue to learn and make improvements to the service, working closely with our partners and those who are using our services to make sure we provide the best possible support to the largest number of people we can."
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