Adult Support and Protection (ASP) National Minimum Dataset, 2024-25

Key points

In financial year 2024-25, the following ASP activity was reported across Scotland:

• There were 63,144 Adult Support and Protection (ASP) referrals reported. Police Scotland was the most common source of reported referrals, providing 23% of all referrals.
• A total of 47,314 ASP inquiries were reported as being undertaken.
• The largest number of inquiries reported as being undertaken, by age and gender, was for people reported as female and aged 65+. 
• Among the inquiries where a known ethnicity for the subject of the inquiry was reported, the most commonly reported ethnicity was ‘white’ (96%). For 22% of inquiries, the ethnicity of the person who was the subject was reported as ‘not known’.
• Adults at risk of harm experience a wide range of underlying conditions including mental health problems, substance misuse, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and infirmity due to age. For inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers, the most common primary client group categories reported were ‘mental health (excluding dementia)’ (20%) and ‘infirmity/frailty due to age’ (17%).
• The most common primary location of harm reported, where someone was the subject of an inquiry, was the individual’s own home. The second most common primary location of harm reported was care homes. For inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers, ‘own home’ was reported as the primary location in 63% of cases and ‘care home’ in 17%.
• ‘Physical harm’ was the most common primary type of harm reported, in cases where someone was the subject of an inquiry. Self-inflicted harm types (‘self neglect’ and ‘self harm’) were also common primary types of harm reported. For inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers, ‘physical harm’ was reported as the primary harm type in 22% of cases. Self-inflicted harms (‘self neglect’ and ‘self harm’) together were reported as the primary types of harm in 26% of cases.
• The number of Large Scale Investigations (LSIs) reported was 49. This was the lowest total number of LSIs reported since 2019-20, and a decrease from 76 reported in 2023-24. Less than half of reported LSIs in 2024-25 (22, or 45% of LSIs) were reported as taking place in care homes.

There are data quality notes associated with many of these data points. Please see the relevant chapter for each data point, or the data and methodology chapter of the accompanying technical report, for more information.