This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Supporting People
27/03/2007
Information on clients assisted through Supporting People funding is published today in the statistical bulletin Supporting People Client Statistics 2005-06.
The bulletin presents information about client profile, client group, type and duration of support and accommodation type, and some comparison with 2004-05 data.
The main points are:
- In 2005-06, 163,758 individuals were assisted through Supporting People funding, 4 per cent fewer than reported for 2004-05 (170,584). This drop may be due in part to a number of factors, including changes in the way that services are provided, changes in local authorities' information systems and improvements in data collection methods
- Clients receiving support were mainly older people (49 per cent), homeless or rough sleepers (20 per cent), and people with a physical disability or illness (10 per cent). Older people are the majority group for 24 local authorities and homeless people for a further 5 local authorities
- 59% of clients are female and 52 per cent are aged 65 or over. Only 11 per cent of clients are aged 25 or under
- Overall, 4 per cent of the adult population received support in 2005-06. This proportion rises to 13 per cent for people aged 75-84, and to 29 per cent for those aged 85 and over. The local authorities with the highest reported proportions of clients per head of population aged 16 and over were West Dunbartonshire (9 per cent), Angus (8 per cent) and West Lothian (7 per cent). The lowest proportions were found in Orkney, Eilean Siar, and Shetland (all at 1 per cent)
- The largest providers of support were local authority social work departments (38 per cent), local authority housing (21 per cent), and voluntary organisations (20 per cent). Registered social landlords provided 16 per cent of support
- 36 per cent of clients received 1-4 hours per week of floating support and 30 per cent received continuous accommodation linked support, which includes 24 hour warden services and community alarms
- Over half of all clients (53 per cent) received permanent support. Only 3 per cent of clients required less than one month of support
- Over half of all clients received support in mainstream housing (52 per cent), with a further 25 per cent in sheltered housing