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The Scottish Government has reviewed the operation of self-directed support via the scrutiny from the Audit Scotland (in 2014 and 2017 progress report); the Care Inspectorate (thematic review 2019) and as a regular part of implementation support for the 10 year strategy.

The Scottish Parliament’s Post Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee also undertook post-legislative scrutiny on the Act in 2017.

The Self-directed Support Implementation Plan 2019-2021 and the larger programme of adult social care reform are designed to address the recommendations of these reviews. Detail of these can be found at these websites: and .

Following close working with COSLA and partnerships to estimate the total national investment needed, £30 million was identified in order to support the delivery of this policy. This was part of an additional £160 million funding package which has been made available to support social care and integration, and school counselling services.

The level of need for social care support varies between local areas depending on population and other local factors. This is the first year of the extension of Free Personal Care to under 65s, and we are working closely with partnerships and COSLA to monitor the costs. This will inform future funding allocations.

The funding for the extension of Free Personal Care was part of an additional £160 million health portfolio funding that was made available via Local Authorities to support social care and integration as part of the 2019-20 Budget. It is for statutory partners to manage their budgets and allocate the total financial resources available to them, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The funding for the extension of Free Personal Care was linked to the stipulation that local authority social care budgets for allocation to Integration Authorities and funding for school counselling services this year must be at least £160 million more than in 2018-19. This ensures that even where areas have received funding for Free Personal Care that is beyond their currently projected levels of demand in this first year, funding for social care overall must increase.

This settlement means that personal care is now free for anyone in Scotland who is assessed as eligible. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure that personal care is no longer charged to the individual.

The following table provides the allocation by Local Authority for the extension of Free Personal Care to under 65s

The Scottish Government is aware that some areas have not required their full allocation to extend Free Personal Care to all ages. If the full allocation is not expected to be required in 2019-20, local authorities have confirmed that they are meeting their statutory obligations. Local Authorities will monitor the situation throughout the year and re-profile funding as necessary, should demand for Free Personal Care increase beyond their current planning.

The following table shows budget expenditure for option one in Scotland since 2014-15.

Data for 2014-15 to 2016-17 has been obtained from the Social Care Survey conducted by the Scottish Government. From 2017-18, responsibility for collecting social care data was transferred to ISD Scotland.

The previous Social Care Survey conducted by the Scottish Government only collected expenditure data on gross costs. Following the transfer of responsibility for collecting social care data to ISD Scotland, local authorities were able to return either or both gross or net expenditure. In order to be comparable to previous years, an estimation has calculated for those areas returning only net expenditure in 2017-18.

Budget expenditure for option one - Scotland

The specific information requested is not held centrally. Information held nationally on delayed discharges does not include diagnosis information and it is therefore not possible to identify people with learning disabilities who have experienced a delayed discharge.

Data on medicines used in mental health, including antidepressants, is published annually by Information Services Division in their Prescribing Statistics - Medicines used in Mental Health publication. The next report will be published on 8 th October 2019, and will be available at:

The following table shows the estimated number of long stay care home residents with a learning disability, aged 18 years and older, in Scotland as at 31 March 2017, the latest time period for which data are available.

Estimated Number of Long Stay Residents with a Learning Disability, 31 March 2017

The following table shows the number of privately run adult care homes supporting one or more long stay adult resident(s) with learning disabilities, as reported via the annual care home census, as at 31 March 2017, the latest year for which data are available.

Number of Private Care Homes for Adults with one or more Long Stay Adult Resident(s) with Learning Disabilities, 31 March 2017:

details the total number and the cost of housing adaptations delivered by each local authority. Information on Scottish Government-funded housing adaptations carried out by Registered Social Landlords is provided to SPICe, as we committed to providing an annual update of information about Scottish Government-funded housing adaptations as part of our responses to PQs S4W-28622 on 9 December 2015 and S5W-01638 on 16 August 2016.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: