Social care

Adult support and protection

Who this applies to

All adults have the right to be safe and protected from harm.

The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007  is designed to support and protect adults aged 16 and over, and who meet all three of the following criteria:   

• unable to safeguard their own well-being, property, rights or other interests

• at risk of harm
• and that because they are affected by disability, mental disorder, illness or physical or mental infirmity they are more vulnerable to being harmed than adults who are not so affected

Harm can be physical, sexual, psychological, financial, or a combination of these.

The Act places a legal duty on councils to make enquiries about a person's wellbeing, property or financial affairs if they believe that person may be an adult at risk and that action may be needed to protect them.

Code of Practice  

We published a revised Adult Support and Protection (ASP) code of practice in 2022. It gives guidance to councils, public bodies and other professionals on how to carry out their duties under the Act. This includes guidance on the principles of the Act, and on when and how to use the powers it contains. It also strengthens guidance on working across agencies, and clarifies how capacity and consent apply in adult support and protection

Who to contact if you are concerned about someone 

The Care Information Scotland website has  information and resources on who to contact if you know or believe someone may be at risk of harm.  

Improvement plan 

The Adult Support and Protection improvement plan (October 2019) covers assurance, governance, data and information, legislation, policy and guidance, practice improvement, and prevention. The workstreams are connected, which strengthens our overall approach. The plan helps policymakers, Ministers, stakeholders and the public understand how well adult support and protection is working and where further improvements are needed.

Adult Protection Committees 

The 2007 Act set up multi-agency Adult Protection Committees (APCs) in every council area in Scotland. Each committee monitors and reviews local activity to safeguard adults at risk. Members include senior staff from councils, NHS Scotland and Police Scotland.

APCs are chaired by independent convenors, who cannot be members or officers of the council. Their role is to oversee adult protection activity in their area and make recommendations to improve it.

Every two years, APCs must submit a report to Scottish Ministers. We published guidance for Adult Protection Committees in July 2022.

Inspection programme 

A multi-agency inspection programme ran from early 2020 to July 2025 as part of our improvement work. It provided scrutiny to check that adults at risk are being protected from all types of harm. An overview report is available on the Care Inspectorate website (PDF).

The programme also led to the development of a quality improvement framework, published in October 2024. This framework supports future inspections and allows adult protection partnerships to carry out their own multi-agency self-evaluations. Self-evaluation is essential to drive continuous improvement.

Learning reviews 

Learning reviews are multi-agency reviews that help us learn from cases where an adult at risk has died or been seriously harmed. We worked with partners to develop the learning review guidance, published in May 2022.  

Large Scale Investigations 

In June 2023, Iriss published a national framework for Large Scale Investigations (LSIs) at the request of the Scottish Government. It sets out processes, principles and good practice for those involved in carrying out LSIs.

The framework was developed through reviews of local guidance, consultation events and research. It was approved by Ministers in November 2023 and developed by Iriss, with input from local authorities, Scottish Care, the Mental Welfare Commission and Police Scotland.

We published the national guidance on Adult Support and Protection Large Scale Investigation (LSI) in October 2025.  

Adult Support and Protection National Learning and Development Framework 

A national workforce survey in 2023 found wide variation in how agencies approach learning and development for adult support and protection. A national framework was needed to provide a more consistent approach to training.

In July 2024, the then Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport noted the development of a new learning and development framework. It was led by the National Adult Support and Protection Co-ordinator, a Scottish Government-funded post embedded with Iriss, and overseen by the ASP Learning and Development Network.

The framework is designed for use across multiple agencies and professions. It aims to ensure that everyone involved in adult support and protection is suitably trained and skilled for their role, and promotes dialogue, collaboration and partnership across professional groups.

The ASP National Learning and Development Framework was published on the Scottish Government website in February 2026.  

Changes to the Adult Support and Protection Law – Section 5A

From 7 January 2026, new legal measures came into force through the Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025. These changes strengthen how organisations work together to protect adults at risk.

A new Section 5A clarifies the legal basis for independent and private healthcare services, including independent contractors, to share information when they believe an adult may be at risk of harm. This brings them in line with existing information-sharing guidance.

These changes will:

• remove uncertainty and delay caused by confusion about information-sharing rules
• provide consistency across Scotland
• help ensure adults at risk are referred quickly and that information is shared efficiently to support risk assessments and intervention

We published the guidance for General Practice on the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 in July 2022 and we will update it in summer 2026 to reflect the most up to date legislative changes.  

National Implementation Group 

The ASP National Implementation Group was set up to develop and support practical application of the revised Code of Practice published in July 2022. It brings together practitioners and managers from a wide range of organisations to drive improvement across the adult support and protection sector.

The group's subgroups have developed tools, resources and work plans, tackling complex issues together. Resources developed by the group are approved by the National Strategic Forum and made available through the Iriss Hub.

National Strategic Forum 

We formed the Adult Support and Protection National Strategic Forum in November 2018. The forum meets twice per year and provides a strategic and cross-sectoral view of what is needed to improve the delivery of adult support and protection across Scotland.