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Statistics Release: Direct Payments Scotland 2004

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.

The figures apply to payments made during the period 1 ^st April 2003 to 31 ^st March 2004 under section 12B of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

Direct payments have been available to disabled people aged 18-64 since April 1997. They were extended to disabled 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 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 and to parents (or those with parental responsibility) for disabled children aged 15 and under. 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. The background information note on page 3 conveys further details relating to the collection of direct payments data. Charts are shown on pages 1 to 3 of the publication and data tables are shown in the appendix. In tables 3, 5, 6 and 7 local authorities have been grouped into larger geographical areas in order to help prevent individuals and their payment amounts being identified.

CHART 1: Number of direct payments, 2001-2004

Main Points

• The number and value of direct payments has increased greatly over the last three years, from 207 payments in 2001 to 912 in the year to 31 March 2004.

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

• Similarly, the value of payments has increased by nearly 6.2 million, from 2.1 million in 2001 to over 8.3 million in 2004.

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

• Almost half of people who received direct payments in 2004 were aged 18-64 with physical disabilities.

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

• A third of people who received direct payments in 2004 were aged 65 or over, compared to only 7 per cent in 2001.

Chart 6 shows the age profile of clients from 2001-2004.

CHART 2: Value of direct payments, 2001-2004

Profile of clients receiving direct payments, 2004

CHART 3: Number of people receiving direct payments

Of the 912 direct payments made during the year, 72 per cent (661 payments) were made to people with physical disabilities. These payments amounted to almost 6.4 million, nearly 77 per cent of the total amount paid.

606 payments (66% of the total) were made to people aged under 65. Direct payments have been available to disabled people aged 65 and over since July 2000 and 306 people in this age group (34% of the total) received payments in the year to 31 March 2004.

Table 1 in the appendix shows a breakdown of the number of clients by age and client group

CHART 4: Average value of a direct payment

The average value of a direct payment received in 2004 was 9,143 per client. Those who received a direct payment due to a physical disability received the highest average payment (9,675) and those with mental health problems received the lowest (6,769).

Table 2 shows the average payment per client broken down by client group.

Time Series, 2001-2004

CHART 5: Average value of a direct payment

After an increase from 2001 to 2002, the average amount of a direct payment has decreased in the last two years from 11,000 per client to just over 9,000.

Table 3 shows the average payment paid per client in each area from 2001-2004

CHART 6: Percentage of people receiving direct payments aged 65+

The age profile of direct payment clients has changed over the past three years, with a greater proportion of recipients now aged 65 or over. In 2001 only 7 per cent of recipients were in this age group, compared to a third of all clients in 2004.

Table 4 shows the age profile of clients from 2001-2004.

There were more females than males in receipt of direct payments in 2004, 523 compared to 389. A gender breakdown by area is shown on table 7.

Local Authority Analysis

All but one Local Authority made direct payments during the year to 31 March 2004.

Fife council made the most payments (over 20 per cent of the Scotland total) and these payments amounted to over 1.5 million. However the City of Edinburgh spent the most, paying out just under 2 million (almost a quarter of the total amount paid). Only Inverclyde did not make a payment in the year.

All but two Local Authorities made more direct payments in 2003/04 than in the previous year - only West Lothian and Eilean Siar made less.

The average value of a payment increased in 21 of 32 Local Authorities yet the Scotland average decreased - the City of Edinburgh contributed heavily to this as payments in this Local Authority fell by an average of 4,400 per client. However the average amount paid to a client in Edinburgh was still greater than in any other Local Authority.

Table 8 shows the number of direct payments made in 2001-2004 by client group and local authority.

CHART 7: Number of people receiving direct payments

Background information on the Direct Payments Survey, 2004

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, gender 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 3WR
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 5 ^th October 2004

APPENDIX

Table 1: Direct payments by age and client group, 2004
Table 2: Average direct payment per client by client group (2001-2004)
Table 3: Direct payments by area (2001-2004)
Table 4: Age profile of direct payment clients (2001-2004)
Table 5: Direct Payments by age band and area, 2004
Table 6: Direct Payments by client group and area, 2004
Table 7: Direct Payments by gender and area, 2004
Table 8: Direct Payments by client group and local authority, 2004
Table 9: Local Authorities by area

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