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

Activity following inquiries

Actions taken following inquiries

The purpose of an inquiry, with or without the use of investigatory powers, is to ascertain whether adults are at risk, and whether the local authority may need to intervene in order to protect the person's wellbeing, property or financial affairs.

For the Adult Support and Protection National Minimum Dataset (ASP NMDS) 2024-25 local authorities reported data on the actions taken following inquiries (with or without the use of investigatory powers) as one of the following six categories:

• Does not meet the three-point criteria - no further action
• Does not meet the three-point criteria - non-ASP support offered or provided
• Meets three-point criteria - non-ASP support provided or offered
• Meets three-point criteria - ongoing ASP work
• Meets three-point criteria - no opportunity for further ASP intervention
• Pending / Unknown

For more information on each of these categories, please see the Glossary in the accompanying technical report.

In 2024-25 not all local authorities were able to report on actions taken following inquiries for all inquiries undertaken. Because of this, the total numbers presented in this chapter do not match the total numbers of inquiries reported in the Inquiries chapter.

Reported actions taken following inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers

For inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25, an action taken following the inquiry was reported for 32,380. The action most commonly reported following the inquiry was ‘does not meet the three-point criteria – non-ASP support provided or offered’ (34%, or 11,163 inquiries) (figure 12).

Figure 12: The most frequently reported action taken following an inquiry undertaken without the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25 was ‘does not meet three-point criteria – non-ASP support provided or offered’ (34%).

Percentage of reported actions taken following inquiries for the 32,380 inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25 where an action following the inquiry was reported.

The numbers and percentages for reported actions taken following inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers, for all actions, are available in the accompanying data tables.

Reported actions taken following inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers

For inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25, an action taken following the inquiry was reported for 12,856. The most common action reported was ‘does not meet the three-point criteria – no further action’ (30%, or 3,914) (figure 13).

Figure 13: The most frequently reported action taken following an inquiry undertaken with the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25 was ‘does not meet three-point criteria – no further action’ (30%).

Percentage of reported actions taken following inquiries for the 12,856 inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25 where an action following the inquiry was reported.

The numbers and percentages for reported actions taken following inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers, for all actions, are available in the accompanying data tables.

Data quality notes:

Some local authorities were not able to report a breakdown of all actions taken following inquiries, or faced challenges in providing a breakdown which led to them reporting a large share as ‘pending/unknown’. For this reason, the data presented on actions taken following inquiries is an approximation of the situation at national level. It is also why the total reported numbers of actions taken following inquiries do not match the total reported numbers of inquiries undertaken, as presented in the Inquiries chapter.

Our view is that, despite this, the data reported in 2024-25 still represents a helpful overview of the actions most often taken following inquiries. See the data and methodology chapter in the accompanying technical report for more information.

Case Conferences

Following inquiries and use of investigatory powers, multi-agency assessment and intervention options may be considered by an interagency Adult Support and Protection Case Conference.

The purpose of case conferences will be defined by local procedures, but should include the sharing of information relating to possible harm, the joint assessment of current and ongoing risk, the continued implementation of any existent management plan, and the need to consider and, if appropriate, agree a specific and detailed support and protection plan. The plan should include reference to the adult’s views, strengths, needs and concerns over time, for the purpose of reducing risk of harm. The review of a support and protection plan will be undertaken at a review case conference, until such time as the protection plan is no longer required and it has been agreed that no further actions are required under the terms of the Act.

In 2024-25, 4,003 case conferences were reported across Scotland. This includes 1,789 initial case conferences reported, and 2,214 review case conferences reported.

A breakdown of the data by quarter is available in the accompanying data tables.

Data quality note:

It should be noted that one local authority reported challenges in accurately reporting the numbers of initial and review case conferences held in 2024-25. See the data and methodology chapter in the accompanying technical report for more information.

Adult Support and Protection Plans

An Adult Support and Protection Plan (ASPP) is a set of actions and strategies agreed by relevant agencies (single or multi-agency) and put in place to support and protect ‘adults at risk’ meeting the three-point criteria. An ASPP is designed to eliminate or reduce risk, manage this over time and respond to changing circumstances, overseen through case conference processes. Plans will stay in place until agreed that they are no longer necessary.

In 2024-25, there were 2,504 newly commenced ASPPs reported across Scotland.

A breakdown of the data by quarter is available in the accompanying data tables.

Data quality notes:

There may be variation in how local authorities report the numbers of newly commenced ASPPs. The Scottish Government and Iriss plan to review this with ASP partnerships over the coming year to better understand the process of implementing ASPPs and how these are counted locally. This is part of our future plans to work with ASP partnerships to improve the data collection.

The Scottish Government also aims to use the ASP NMDS to collect data on the total number of ASPPs, including ongoing ASPPs (which may have one or more associated review case conferences). We have chosen not to publish the data reported for total numbers of ASPPs during 2024-25 due to updates to the description for this indicator part-way through the collection year, as well as variation in how local authorities report ongoing ASPPs following review case conferences. See the data and methodology chapter in the accompanying technical report for more information.

Protection orders granted

The ASP Act allows for application to a sheriff for a protection order. Protection orders (a term used in section 35 of the Act) cover:

• Assessment orders - which involve taking a person from a place in order to carry out an interview or medical examination.
• Removal orders - the removal of an adult at risk.
• Banning orders or temporary banning orders – the banning of the person causing, or likely to cause, the harm from being in a specified place and/ or preserving property (the Act, Sections 11-34).

For more information, please see the Glossary section of the accompanying technical report.

In 2024-25, a total of 97 protection orders were reported as granted in the ASP NMDS. The majority of these (91 orders, or 94%) were banning or temporary banning orders (figure 14). Three assessment orders were reported as granted, and three removal orders.

Figure 14: Banning or temporary banning orders were reported as the most commonly granted protection orders in 2024-25, accounting for 91 out of 97 reported protection orders.

Reported numbers of protection orders granted in Scotland, by type, in 2024-25.

Data quality note:

The Scottish Government also aims to use the ASP NMDS to collect data on the number of protection orders applied for. We were unable to report on this for 2024-25 because not all local authorities consistently reported protection orders applied for that were not granted. See the data and methodology chapter in the accompanying technical report for more information.