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2. Key Points
- In 2006-07, 175,934 individuals were assisted through Supporting People funding, 7% more than reported for 2005-06 (163,758) (Chart 1). This increase 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. See section 4 for further details.
Chart 1: Clients assisted through supporting people, number and as % of population aged 16+
- Clients receiving support were mainly older people (46%), homeless or rough sleepers (20%), and people with a physical disability, illness or sensory impairment (8%). Older people are the majority group for 22 local authorities and homeless people for a further 8 local authorities (Chart 2).
Chart 2: Clients assisted through supporting people by broad client group
- 57% of clients are female and 50% are aged 65 or over. Only 13% of clients are aged 25 or under (Chart 3).
Chart 3: Clients assisted through supporting people by broad age band
- Overall, 4% of the adult population received support in 2006-07. This proportion rises to 13% for people aged 75-84, and to 28% 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%), Clackmannanshire and Argyll & Bute (8% each). The lowest proportions were found in Orkney, Eilean Siar, and Shetland (all at 1%) (Chart 1).
- The largest providers of support services were local authority social work departments (32% of clients), local authority housing (26%), and registered social landlords (25%). Voluntary organisations provided support to 18% of clients.
- 34% of clients received 1-4 hours per week of floating support, 10% received 1-4 hours per week of accommodation linked support and 7% received continuous accommodation linked support. In 2005-06, continuous accommodation linked support included warden services and community alarms, but these two types of service are now shown separately and are excluded from the support hours question. Therefore the 2 years of data are not directly comparable. In 2006-07 23% of clients benefitted from a community alarm and 21% had access to a warden service.
- For the majority of clients (51%) the support received is permanent (Chart 4). Only 1% of clients required less than one month of support.
Chart 4: Clients assisted through supporting people by expected duration of support
- Over half of all clients received support in mainstream housing (54%), with a further 23% in sheltered housing
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