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

Demographics reported for inquiries

Local authorities are encouraged to collect and report limited demographic data on people who were the subject of Adult Support and Protection (ASP) inquiries, for the National Minimum Dataset (NMDS).

Note that the figures presented in this chapter relate to the number of inquiries undertaken where demographic data was reported, not the number of individual people who were the subject of those inquiries. An individual person may have been the subject of more than one inquiry during 2024-25. Where this was the case, their demographic data may have been reported more than once.

Inquiries may be undertaken out with or without the use of investigatory powers. Any use of investigatory powers is triggered through the section 4 duty to inquire under the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act, 2007 (the ASP Act). For more information, please see the Glossary in the accompanying technical report.

Data quality note:

In 2024-25 not all local authorities were able to report demographic data 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.

Age and gender

Information on the age and gender of the person who was the subject of an inquiry was reported for a total of 46,492 inquiries in 2024-25.

Within those inquiries, in 55% (25,438) of cases the gender of the person who was the subject of an inquiry was reported as female, and in 45% (20,799) of cases their gender was reported as male. In less than 1% (35) of inquiries the gender of the person was reported as trans or non-binary and in less than 1% (220) of cases their gender was reported as ‘prefer not to say’.

The largest number of inquiries reported as being undertaken, by age and gender, was for people reported as female and aged 65+ (figure 7).

Figure 7: The largest number of inquiries reported by age and gender in 2024-25 were for females aged 65 and over.

Numbers of ASP inquiries reported by age and gender of the people who were the subject of those inquiries (where age and gender was reported), in 2024-25.

The numbers for age and gender reported for inquiries, for all categories, are available in the accompanying data tables.

Data quality notes:

The data presented here is an approximation of the situation at national level, as some local authorities noted challenges in reporting age and gender data, especially for inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers. Please see the the data and methodology chapter in the accompanying technical report for more information.

The ASP National Minimum Dataset (NMDS) included ages 16 to 17 as an age category for people who were the subject of an ASP referral, in 2024-25. Referrals for this age group were reported as a distinct age group in order to inform practice and policy improvements that relate specifically to this group of young people. More information on this is available from this guidance document produced by Iriss.

Ethnicity

In 2024-25, information about the ethnicity of the person who was the subject of an inquiry was reported for a total of 46,884 inquiries. This includeed local authorities reporting ethnicity as ‘not known’.

For 10,158 (22%) of inquiries in 2024-25, the ethnicity of the person who was the subject of the inquiry was reported as ‘not known’ (figure 8).

Among the inquiries where a known ethnicity for the subject of the inquiry was reported, the most commonly reported ethnicity was ‘white’. In the 36,726 inquiries where a known ethnicity was reported for the person who was the subject of that inquiry, 35,410 (96%) were reported as ‘white’. In the other 1,316 (4%) of inquiries with a reported known ethnicity, the ethnicity of the person was reported as an other known ethnicity (figure 8).

Figure 8: In the majority of inquiries in 2024-25 the ethnicity of the person who was the subject of the inquiry was reported as white (over 35,000 inquiries). In more than 10,000 inquiries the person’s ethnicity was reported as ‘not known’.

Numbers of ASP inquiries by reported ethnicity, 2024-25.

Among the 1,316 inquiries where the ethnicity was reported as an other known ethnicity, the most commonly reported ethnicity was ‘Asian, Scottish Asian or British Asian’ (623 inquiries, or 47%), followed by ‘other ethnic group’ (391 inquiries, or 30%) (figure 9).

Figure 9: In 2024-25, the largest number of known non-white ethnicities reported for people who were the subject of an inquiry was ‘Asian, Scottish Asian or British Asian’ (623 inquiries, or 47%).

Numbers of ASP inquiries by reported ethnicity, among the 1,316 inquiries where the ethnicity was reported as known and non-white, 2024-25.

The numbers for ethnicity reported for inquiries, for all categories, are available in the accompanying data tables.

Data quality note:

The data presented here is an approximation of the situation at national level, as some local authorities noted challenges in reporting ethnicity data. Please see the data and methodology chapter in the accompanying technical report for more information.

Primary client group

The ASP NMDS collects data on the primary client group. This means the primary vulnerability someone has which would (potentially) contribute to them meeting the three-point criteria for being an “adult at risk” (as per section 3 of the ASP Act: because they are affected by disability, mental disorder, illness or physical or mental infirmity, are more vulnerable to being harmed than adults who are not so affected). The ASP NMDS only collected the primary client group. This does not mean that individuals did not also fit in or belong to other client groups. Where local authorities thought the primary client group did not fit within one of the existing categories in the ASP NMDS, they could report it as ‘other’ and provide further details.

Primary client group reported for inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers

A primary client group was reported for 31,443 inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25. Among those, the most common primary client group reported was dementia (21% or 6,627 inquiries), followed by ‘infirmity/frailty due to age’ (20% or 6,136 inquiries), and ‘mental health (excluding dementia)’ (19%, or 6,090 inquiries) (figure 10).

Figure 10: Dementia was the most frequently reported primary client group (21%) for inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25.

Percentage of primary client group reported for the 31,443 inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25 where a primary client group was reported.

The numbers and percentages for primary client group reported for inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers, for all categories, are available in the accompanying data tables.

Among the local authorities who were able to report further details, where the primary client group for inquiries without the use of investigatory powers was initially reported as ‘other – please specify’, the most common primary client groups reported were ‘other/not recorded’ or ‘not known’. Other primary client groups commonly reported within ‘other – please specify’ included ‘other vulnerable person/challenging behaviour’ and ‘acute illness’.

Primary client group reported for inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers

A primary client group was reported for 13,153 inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25. The most common primary client group reported was ‘mental health (excluding dementia)’ (20% or 2,681 inquiries), followed by ‘infirmity/frailty due to age’ (17% or 2,293 inquiries) and dementia (16% or 2,133 inquiries) (figure 11).

Figure 11: ‘Mental health (excluding dementia)’ was the most frequently reported primary client group (20%) for inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25.

Percentage of primary client group reported for the 13,153 inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers in 2024-25 where a primary client group was reported.

The numbers and percentages for primary client group reported for inquiries undertaken with the use of investigatory powers, for all categories, are available in the accompanying data tables.

Among the local authorities who were able to report further details, where the primary client group for inquiries with the use of investigatory powers was initially reported as ‘other – please specify’, the most common primary client groups reported were ‘other’ and ‘not known’. Other primary client groups commonly reported within ‘other – please specify’ were ‘other vulnerable person / challenging behaviour’ and ‘self neglect’.

Data quality notes:

There were challenges for some local authorities to accurately report the primary client group, particularly for inquiries undertaken without the use of investigatory powers. For this reason, the data presented on primary client group is an approximation of the situation at national level. Also, two local authorities faced challenges with reporting further information for any inquiries where the primary client group was intially reported as ‘other’. See the data and methodology chapter in the accompanying technical report for more information.