Key facts

• The national PSA value has continued to rise, increasing to 33.8 per cent in 2005-06 from 32.0 per cent in 2004-05.
• The PSA figure for England exceeded the March 2006 target of 30 per cent in 2003-04 and is 0.2 percentage points below the target of 34 per cent by March 2008.
• The rise in the PSA value is due in part to the increasing number of households receiving intensive home care. In September 2005 98,200 households received an intensive home care service, a rise of 6 per cent from the same period in 2004.

Summary

The Public Service Agreement (PSA) target is used to help improve the quality of life and independence of older people so that they can live at home wherever possible. This publication includes analysis of the PSA target at both a national and local level, and reviews progress since 2001-02.

(The PSA value is based on the Performance Assessment Framework Performance Indicator AO/B11, intensive home care as a percentage of intensive home and residential care, but calculated for older people rather than all adults. Households receiving home care purchased with a direct payment are excluded. The Performance Assessment Framework is used by the Commission for Social Care Inspection to monitor the performance of social services across councils.)