Guidance

Annex A: collections and data flows

Published 20 December 2023

Applies to England

Annex A provides a detailed list of all national data flows and collections that currently exist. These are broken down into 2 categories:

  • national collections which were set up specifically for adult social care sector needs
  • wider national collections which serve a wider purpose but can be used to fulfil adult social care sector needs

A majority of these collections are published, at various levels of aggregation. Published collections are flagged in the tables below (as ‘Yes’ in the ‘Published?’ column). The tables use acronyms for the following bodies and organisations:

  • Care Quality Commission (CQC)
  • Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
  • Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
  • Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)
  • Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
  • Local Government Ombudsman (LGO)
  • North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS)
  • NHS Test and Trace (NHS T&T)
  • Office for National Statistics (ONS)
  • United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA)

National data collections specific to adult social care

Table 1: List of national data collections specific to adult social care

Collection name Published? Who the information is about Who provides the data Organisation collecting the data Organisation holding the data
Complaints and information of concern No Providers People who draw on care or unpaid carers CQC (executive public body) CQC (executive public body)
Yes Providers CQC CQC (executive public body) CQC (executive public body)
Yes People who draw on care Providers CQC (executive public body) CQC (executive public body)
No Providers Providers CQC (executive public body) CQC (executive public body)
No Providers Providers CQC (executive public body) CQC (executive public body)
No Providers People who draw on care or unpaid carers CQC (executive public body) CQC (executive public body)
Safeguarding alerts and concerns No Providers People who draw on care or unpaid carers CQC (executive public body) CQC (executive public body)
Improved Better Care Fund quarterly reporting Yes Local authority Local authority DLUHC (government department) DLUHC (government department)
Yes Local authority and providers People who draw on care LGO (public funded body) LGO (public funded body)
Yes People who draw on care Providers Care Providers NHS England
Yes Local authority Local authority NHS England NHS England
Yes People who draw on care People who draw on care Local authority NHS England
Yes People who draw on care Local authority Local authority NHS England
Yes People who draw on care Local authority Local authority NHS England
Yes People who draw on care Local authority NHS England NHS England
Yes People who draw on care Local authority Local authority NHS England
Yes People who draw on care Local authority Local authority NHS England
Yes Carers and people who draw on care Carers Local authority NHS England
Yes Providers Providers NECS (executive public body) NHS England and DHSC (government department)
Yes People who draw on care NHS Funded ÌìÃÀÓ°Ôº NHS funded services NHS England
Yes Providers Providers Skills for Care (public funded body) Skills for Care (public funded body)

Wider national data collections

Table 2: List of wider national data collections

Collection name Published? Who the information is about Who provides the data Organisation collecting the data Organisation holding the data
Yes People who draw on care People who draw on care CQC (executive public body) CQC (executive public body)
Community Life Survey Yes People who draw on care People who draw on care DCMS (government department) DCMS (government department)
PPE e-Portal Yes Providers Providers NHS Supply Chain DHSC (government department)
English Housing Survey Yes People who draw on care People who draw on care DLUHC (government department) DLUHC (government department)
Revenue account collection: local authority revenue expenditure and financing Yes Local authority Local authority DLUHC (government department) DLUHC (government department)
Family Resources Survey Yes Carers and social care workforce Carers DWP (government department) DWP (government department)
Personal Independence Payment Yes People who draw on care People who draw on care DWP (government department) DWP (government department)
No People who draw on care Local authority Local authority Local authority
Yes People who draw on care Commissioners NHS England NHS England
No People who draw on care NHS Funded ÌìÃÀÓ°Ôº NHS England NHS England
Yes People who draw on care Providers NHS England NHS England
Yes People who draw on care NHS Funded ÌìÃÀÓ°Ôº NHS England NHS England
Yes People who draw on care GP Practice GP Practice (NHS) NHS England
Yes People who draw on care People who draw on care NHS England NHS England
No People who draw on care NHS Funded ÌìÃÀÓ°Ôº NHS funded services NHS England
Yes People who draw on care GP Practice GP Practice (NHS) NHS England
No People who draw on care Providers Care Providers NHS England
Yes Providers People who draw on care NHS England NHS England
Yes People who draw on care NA, GPs collect anyway GP Practice (NHS) NHS England
Yes People who draw on care Local authority Local authority NHS England
Yes Social care workforce Individuals ONS (government body) ONS (government body)
Yes Social care workforce Providers ONS (government body) ONS (government body)
Yes Carers and people who draw on care and social care workforce Carers ONS (government body) ONS (government body)
Yes Carers, Social care workforce Carers ONS (government body) ONS (government body)
Yes Social care workforce Providers ONS (government body) ONS (government body)
Yes Carers Individuals ONS (government body) ONS (government body)
Yes Social care workforce Providers ONS (government body) ONS (government body)
Yes People who draw on care Providers General Register Office (government body) ONS and General Register Office (government body)
Yes Social care workforce Providers Adzuna (Private organisation) ONS (government body) and Adzuna (Private organisation)
Yes People who draw on care People who draw on care NatCen Social Research (Research organisation) UK Data Service (public funded body)
Yes Carers Carers University of Essex (Research organisation) UK Data Service (public funded body)
National Pathology Exchange (T&T data) Yes People who draw on care NHS Funded ÌìÃÀÓ°Ôº NHS T&T UKHSA (government body)

How the data flows

These infographics represent examples of national adult social care data flows and the various organisations involved in collecting and holding data. These data flows generate from the subjects of the data (such as providers, local authorities, unpaid carers and people who draw on care and support), to the organisations that hold the data.

The infographics demonstrate data flows for:

  • data collected through national collections that are set up specifically for adult social care needs
  • data collected through wider national collections that serve a wider purpose but can be used to fulfil adult social care needs

Figure 1: data flows from the subject of the data to the organisation holding the data, captured via collections specific to adult social care

Figure 2: data flows from the subject of the data to the organisation holding the data, captured via wider collections