Adult Support and Protection Scotland: April 2019 to March 2022

Introduction

The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act took effect in 2008. The Act gives greater protection to adults at risk of harm or neglect. It defines 'adults at risk' as individuals, aged 16 years or over, who:

• are unable to safeguard themselves, their property, rights or other interests;
• are at risk of harm; and
• because they are affected by disability, mental disorder, illness or physical or mental infirmity, are more vulnerable to being harmed than others who are not so affected.

The presence of a particular condition does not automatically mean an adult is an "adult at risk". Someone could have a disability but be able to safeguard their well-being etc. It is important to stress that all three elements of this definition must be met. It is the whole of an adult's particular circumstances which can combine to make then more susceptible to harm than others.

ASP data is currently reported to Scottish Government by all local authorities via an annual data return. Due to the wide variation in data reporting by local authorities the data is not sufficiently robust to enable comparisons to be drawn between local authorities therefore data in this release is reported at national level only.

The data reported here relates to contact points the general public have had with ASP services between financial years 2019/20 and 2021/22. The report is split into ten sections and one appendix covering: an introduction; referrals; investigations; case conferences; protections orders; large scale investigations; comparisons with other data sources; future plans; tell us what you think and experimental statistics.

In July 2022, there was an update to the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007: Code of Practice (July 2022). The definitions used in this report and accompanying excel tables will not reflect the updated terminology because the data were collected before the changes to the code of practice.

If you, or someone you know, is at risk of harm we would advise contacting your local authority by email or phone and share your concerns – you can do so anonymously. The matter will be dealt with sensitively and confidentially, and support given if needed. You will be able to find details of your local authority on the Getting Help page of the Act Against Harm website.