Report to the ENIL Board Meeting
8th March 2003 Southampton
by Frances Hasler, 2003-03
The Department of Health has published monitoring figures for direct payments usage, based on information from September 2002. They show an overall growth in numbers since 2001 from 5423 to 7882. The most dramatic increase in take up is among carers (more than four times as many as previously). Some groups – people with learning difficulties, mental health service users and older people – have roughly doubled their numbers. Growth among people with physical impairment has been smaller – just 30%.
But user numbers in most authorities remain low, with the majority of authorities having fewer than fifty users. Eighteen authorities have between 100 and 200 users, and two (Essex and Hampshire) have over 600 users. More than 20 authorities have ten or fewer direct payments users.
| Authorities with greatest numbers of users | |
| 500+ | Essex, Hampshire |
| 100-200 | Southampton, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, West Sussex, Norfolk, Birmingham, Cheshire, Durham, Cumbria, Lancashire, Manchester, Nottinghamshire, Portsmouth, Derbyshire, Sheffield |
| Authorities with fewest users | |
| 10 or under | City of London, Isles of Scilly, Bracknell Forest, Bromley, Bury, Dudley, Havering, Reading, Windsor & Maidenhead, Slough, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Thurrock, Wandsworth, Rutland. York, Wokingham |
| Authorities with greatest numbers of people with learning difficulties on direct payments | |
| Over 30 users | Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Durham |
| 15-30 users | Warrington, Wiltshire Oxfordshire, Liverpool, Lancashire, Cumbria, Cambridgeshire |
| Authorities with greatest numbers of older people on direct payments | |
| Over 30 users | Cumbria, Derbyshire, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire |
| 15-30 users | Barnet, Cambridgeshire, Croydon, Durham, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Sheffield, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, Southampton, West Sussex |
| Authorities with greatest numbers of mental health service users on direct payments | |
| 10- 20 users | Essex, Liverpool, Staffordshire, Hampshire |
| Authorities with greatest numbers of carers on direct payments | |
| More than 10 users | Durham, Manchester, Portsmouth |
| Authorities with greatest number of carers of disabled children using direct payments | |
| More than 10 users | Cumbria, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Kirklees |
| 5 – 10 users | Blackpool Devon Kent Leeds Staffordshire, Torbay, Westminster |
| Totals for each user group 2002 (2001) | |
| Older people | 1032 (537) |
| Learning disability | 736 (353) |
| Physical disability | 5459 (4274) |
| Sensory impairment | 159 (100) |
| Young carers | 3 (3) |
| Mental health | 132 (61) |
| Carers of disabled children | 228 (66) |
| Disabled 16 & 17 year olds | 38 (8) |
| Carers | 95 (21) |
Please note: figures are only as good as the people who supplied them, and a few are missing from the total. This report is drawn from the Dept of Health monitoring tables; if you have corrections to this, please let NCIL know.