Self-directed Support (Direct Payments) Rises

24th September 2012

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published 'Self-directed Support (Direct Payments), Scotland, 2011'. The purpose of the Statistics Release is to present the latest national figures for Direct Payments made during the period 1st April 2010 to 31st March 2011 under section 12B of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. People who receive Self-directed Support (Direct Payments) are able to purchase and manage for themselves some or all of the care they have been assessed as needing. They are one way of increasing the flexibility, choice, and control people have over the care they receive, so that they can live more independently in their communities. A client may have more than one payment during the year.

Some of the notable statistics included in the report are:

People receiving Self-directed Support (Direct Payments)

The number of people in receipt of Self-directed Support (Direct Payments) has increased each year from 207 in 2001 when these figures were first collected to 5,049 in the year to 31st March 2012.

Over the last year, the number of people in receipt of Direct Payments has increased by 15 per cent from 4,392 in 2011 to 5,049 in 2012.

The number of people using Direct Payments to purchase care and support has increased each year while the number of people receiving home care services provided or purchased by local authorities has fallen over the last 5 years. The number of people using Direct Payments is still small when compared with the 63,500 people receiving home care services at March 2011.

37 per cent of people receiving Self-directed Support (Direct Payments) had a physical disability and 24 per cent had a learning disability. A further 4 per cent had both a physical and a learning disability.


Value of Self-Directed Support (Direct Payments)

The value of direct payments has increased each year from £2.1 million in 2001 to £59.4 million in 2012.

Over the last year, the value of direct payments increased by 18 per cent, from £50.2 million in 2011 to £59.4 million in 2012.