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Statistics Release
Direct Payments, 2003

A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication

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Introduction

The purpose of this Statistics Release is to present national figures on Direct Payments made by Scottish Local Authorities.

It applies to payments made during the period 1 ^st April 2002 to 31 ^st March 2003 under section 12B of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. These figures are provisional and as such are subject to change. The final figures will be published in Scottish Community Care Statistics 2003.

Direct payments have been available to disabled people aged 18-64 since April 1997. They were extended to people aged 65 and over in July 2000. Since 21 December 2001 they have also been available to disabled 16 and 17 year olds and disabled parents for children's services. From 1 June 2003 (after the period covered in this release) it became a duty for local authorities to offer direct payments in place of providing services to all eligible disabled people aged 16 and over. Direct payments are made to people in these categories to enable them to purchase for themselves the services they have been assessed as needing. This can help increase independence and aid social inclusion.

The information is derived from returns made to the Scottish Executive by Scottish Local Authorities. Refer to the background information outlined later in this information note for further details relating to the collection of direct payments data.

CHART 1: Number of direct payments, 2001-2003

Main Points

• Overall, the number and value of direct payments has increased greatly over the last two years from 207 payments in 2001 to 534 in the year to 31 March 2003.

Chart 1 shows the number of direct payments made each year.

• Similarly, the value of payments has increased by nearly 3.4 million, from 2.1 million in 2001 to over 5.4 million in 2003.

Chart 2 shows the value of direct payments made each year.

• During the year to 31 March 2003 an estimated 534 people in Scotland received direct payments from Local Authorities to enable them to purchase community care services. These payments were worth over 5.4 million.

• 54 per cent of people receiving direct payments were aged 18-64 with physical disabilities.

Chart 3, on page 2, shows a summary of payments by age and client group.

CHART 2: Value of direct payments, 2001-2003

Profile of clients receiving direct payments

Table 1 shows the number of payments made during the year to 31 March 2003, by client group.

TABLE 1: Direct Payments by client group and age

Table 2 shows the value of payments made during the year to 31 March 2003, by client group.

TABLE 2: Value of payments by client group and age

Of the 534 direct payments made during the year, 70 per cent (372 payments) were made to people with physical disabilities. These payments amounted to more than 4.2 million, nearly 78 per cent of the total amount paid.

385 payments (72% of the total) were made to people aged 18-64. Direct payments have been available to people aged 65 and over since July 2000 and 141 people in this age group (26% of the total) received payments in the year to 31 March 2003. 8 payments were made to people aged 16-17. This is the first year that direct payments have been made to this age group although they have been available since December 2001.

CHART 3: Number of people receiving direct payments

Time Series

Tables 3 and 4 shows the number and value of direct payments for the past three years, by client group.

TABLE 3 : Number of direct payments by client group, 2001-03

TABLE 4 : Value of direct payments by client group, 2001-03

The number (and value) of direct payments has increased over the 3 year period for all client groups.

The number of payments made to people with physical disabilities and learning disabilities have increased by 145% and 184% respectively.

In 2001 no payments had been made to people with mental health problems or to disabled parents. However, in 2003 a total of 12 payments were made to these client groups.

Local Authority Analysis

Of the 32 authorities, 20 made direct payments during the year to 31 March 2003. From 1 June 2003 (after the period covered in this release) it became a duty for local authorities to offer direct payments in place of providing services to all eligible disabled people aged 16 and over.

Fife council made the highest number of payments (22 per cent of the total). These payments amounted to over 0.8 million. However, City of Edinburgh issued direct payments worth nearly 1.9 million, over 34 per cent of the total amount paid. Two thirds of these payments were made to people aged 18 - 64 with physical disabilities.

Table 4 shows the number and value of direct payments made by each local authority.

TABLE 4 : Direct Payments by Local Authority

Background information on the Direct Payments Survey, 2003

The Direct Payments survey began in 2001 and collects information on Direct Payments from all Local Authorities in Scotland.

The survey asks for the number of clients receiving direct payments, split by age and client group.

All 32 local authorities provided information.

Some column totals in the tables in this document may not exactly equal the sum of their component parts due to the effects of rounding.

Further Information

Further details and analysis of the data presented in this Statistics Release are available on request from the address below. The Statistics Release is also available on the Internet by accessing the Scottish Executive web site ( www.scotland.gov.uk/stats).

Community Care Statistics
Room 2N:08
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

Contact: Steven Gillespie
Tel: 0131 244 3777
Fax: 0131 244 5427
E-mail SWstat@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Further information on Direct Payments is available from the Direct Payments Scotland website ( www.dpscotland.org.uk)

This statistics release was published on 21 ^st October 2003.