Free Personal and Nursing Care, Scotland, 2023-24

This section presents the latest available data on the number of care home residents with local authority support, who receive Free Personal Care (FPC) and/or Free Nursing Care (FNC) payments (together, FPNC payments). Some residents receive both FPC and FNC. Others receive only FPC.

Age 65 and over

On the last day of 2023-24, there were 28,210 long-stay residents aged 65 and over in care homes with local authority support in Scotland. This is similar to the 28,080 estimated in 2022-23, but 8% lower than in 2014-15 (30,520).

Of the 28,210 long-stay residents aged 65 and over in 2023-24, 10,900 (39%) were self-funding residents receiving FPNC payments. The remainder of care home residents did not receive either FPC or FNC, or were publicly funded under the National Care Home Contract.

The 10,900 FPNC recipients in 2023-24 is 2% higher than the 10,670 estimated in 2022-23. It is also 6% higher than the 10,300 in 2014-15.  However, while the number of care home residents receiving FPNC has risen since 2014-15, it has not been a steady increase. Between 2017-18 and 2018-19 the number of care home residents aged 65 and over receiving FPNC payments increased, reaching a high of 11,600 in 2018-19 (and 11,560 in 2019-20), before decreasing again in 2020-21 to 10,540 (see Figure 1).

The 39% of long-stay residents supported in care homes who received FPNC in 2023-24 is slightly higher than the 38% estimated in 2022-23 (a 1 percentage point increase). The proportion has increased over the last 10 years, from 34% in 2014-15. The biggest increase occurred between 2017-18 and 2018-19, when it rose from 35% to 39% (an increase of four percentage points) before decreasing to 38% in 2019-20. The 39% seen in 2023-24 is now as high as that previous highest value, seen in 2018-19.

Of the 10,900 self-funding residents aged 65 and over who received FPNC payments in 2023-24, 7,400 (68%) received both FPC and FNC payments. The remaining 3,510 (32%) received FPC payments only. The percentage of FPNC recipients receiving both FPC and FNC has increased from 63% in 2014-15, but is the same in 2023-24 as in the previous two years (2021-22 and 2022-23).

Full data is available in the accompanying tables, both at Scotland total and local authority level.

Figure 1: Over the last 10 years, the total number of long-stay care home residents aged 65 and over has ranged between a high of 30,800 (in 2015-16) and a low of 27,580 (in 2021-22).

The number of long-stay care home residents aged 65 and over who received both FPC and FNC payments (bottom bar), FPC payments only (middle bar), and who did not receive FPC or FNC payments (top bar), Scotland, 2014-15 to 2023-24. Note: data points were collected on the last day (top bar) or week (bottom 2 bars) of the year – i.e. the end of March.

Source: Scottish Government Quarterly Monitoring Return.

Age 18 to 64

On the last day of 2023-24, there were 3,430 long-stay residents aged 18 to 64 in care homes with local authority support in Scotland. This is 3% higher than the number estimated in 2022-23 (3,340). This number has remained relatively consistent over the last five years, at between 3,320 (2021-22) and 3,430 (2023-24). However, between Q4 2018-19 (just prior to the introduction of Franks’ Law) and Q1 2019-20 it rose by 8%, increasing from 3,100 to 3,340.

Of the 3,430 long-stay care home residents aged 18-64 in 2023-24, 150 (4%) were self-funding residents receiving FPNC payments. The proportion of residents aged 18 to 64 receiving FPNC payments in 2023-24 was therefore much smaller than for residents aged 65 and over (for whom it was 39%). The same proportion (4%) of long-stay residents aged 18-64 were estimated to be receiving FPNC in 2022-23 (an estimated 130 residents).

Of these 150 self-funding residents aged 18 to 64 who received any FPNC payments in 2023-24, 90 (64%) received both FPC and FNC payments. This is an increased proportion compared to both 2022-23 (an estimated 59%) and 2021-22 (63%).

Consequently, 50 residents (36% of 18 to 64 year old FPNC recipients) received FPC payments only in 2023-24.

Although there have been some noticeable changes in these percentages year-to-year, these changes should be treated with caution due to the small underlying numbers of 18 to 64 year olds receiving FPNC in care homes. However, over the last 13 quarters for which data is available, consistently over half of 18 to 64 year-old FPNC recipients received FPC together with FNC (54-65%).

Full data is available in the accompanying tables, both at Scotland total and local authority level.