Findings

Acting on user feedback

2.1 The commentary is presented impartially throughout the statistics report and supported by appropriate tables and charts to aid understanding. The report provides insightful information on the adult social care workforce employed by social services departments. The users we spoke to appreciate the detailed commentary provided. However, some users identified where they would like to see more data for further insight into the adult social care workforce, such as data on the gender pay gap. Other users mentioned that the timeliness of the annual survey does not meet their needs. The Workforce Intelligence team responsible for publishing the statistics has welcomed the additional user insights we have provided as part of this assessment as they cover views that have not been previously shared with the team. We are reassured by the team’s commitment to reach out to more users and consider how it can respond to this user feedback. 

2.2 Before we assessed these statistics, Skills for Care published trend information, not the back series of data. Following the user feedback that we gathered during this assessment, the Workforce Intelligence team has adjusted and published the back series of data with current methods and variables to allow for comparability. Skills for Care acts as its own archive, and more-granular datasets using back series of raw data are available for academic research upon request. Following feedback from users during this assessment, the team has collated and published a data directory to allow users to understand what data are available for academic research before they make a request. 

2.3 The users of statistics and data should be at the centre of statistical production. We expect producers of official statistics to provide the means for users to meaningfully engage with them in open and constructive ways. Skills for Care engages with stakeholders through regular meetings, ad hoc meetings and social media. It also asks users for feedback in the statistics report and on the statistics landing page. Users were content with the amount of interaction they had with the Workforce Intelligence team members and found them helpful when answering queries or providing information.  

2.4 Skills for Care recently explored user needs with a comprehensive stakeholder survey, but it has not transparently set out how it will act on stakeholders’ views. Pages 4 and 5 of the statistical report contain generic information on the users and uses of the data, but these pages should provide more information about the wide range of users and uses for the data. An analysis of the recent stakeholder survey could provide the Workforce Intelligence team with more-detailed information about users and uses and enable it to update this part of the statistical report. 

2.5 The Workforce Intelligence team is considering the actions arising from the stakeholder survey findings that might affect the statistics. The team told us that the feedback from the survey will feed into its business plan and that some of the proposed actions include improving the current website. We expect that users would welcome website improvements, since some said that they found the website confusing to navigate. 

Ensuring continuing statistical improvement

2.6 Skills for Care has assigned a Lead Official whose role is to uphold and advocate the standards of the Code, strive to improve statistics and data for the public good and challenge their inappropriate use. In order to receive expert independent advice, the Lead Official at Skills for Care has established a professional relationship with the new Head of Profession for Statistics at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) during this assessment. 

2.7 Organisations should have effective business processes and appropriate resources to support their statistical functions and be open about their plans, priorities and progress. Skills for Care operates as a charitable body that is commissioned by DHSC to collect and publish data on the adult social care workforce in England. Skills for Care and DHSC maintain a strong relationship with an open dialogue. Skills for Care acts promptly to implement necessary changes to data collection and handle data in a trustworthy manner. Any changes to the contractual relationship between DHSC and Skills for Care should be handled carefully to ensure continuity and quality.  

2.8 Official statistics on the adult social care workforce are also published by other governments across the UK and can be accessed using this interactive data toolkit. The Government Analytical Function has published an analysis of several statistics about adult social care, noting whether or not the data can be compared across the UK. For workforce data, the statistics are not directly comparable. The Lead Official is establishing a working relationship with the cross-UK group for Adult Social Care statistics to be part of discussions about data comparability in the future.  

2.9 Skills for Care published an organisational strategy, but it does not mention the production of official statistics, nor the governance structure in place to support this work. It is therefore difficult to understand the relative importance of the publication of official statistics within Skills for Care’s portfolio of work and how it is overseen. Additionally, a published work programme, developed with stakeholders, could help to manage users’ expectations about how future developments are being prioritised and what further value can be obtained from the statistics, for example, by considering how to improve the comparability of statistics about the adult social care workforce across the UK. 

Methods and quality information

2.10 Skills for Care curates and develops the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set to provide information about the adult social care workforce and providers in England to meet user needs. The Workforce Intelligence team told us it is working with a team of data scientists and coders to process and publish its data using reproducible analytical pipelines. The aim of this development work is to reduce the time taken to process data and speed up publication to meet a wider range of user needs, which is good practice. 

2.11 Producers of statistics should provide information about the sources and methods used for statistics production, the reasons for their selection, their strengths and limitations, and measures taken to assure their quality. The Workforce Intelligence team recently reviewed and improved the methodology document that is published to describe all their statistics. Section 1.1 of the methodology document relates to the collection of data from local authorities with adult social services responsibilities. The methodology document includes a process map which shows the steps taken to produce the statistics, from data collection to publication, identifying any risk points throughout the process and explaining the actions that are taken to ensure the quality of the statistics at these points. The data processing is clearly described and illustrated, with working examples throughout. 

2.12 The statistics report tells users which data have undergone minor revisions. Appropriate statistical disclosure controls are applied to the data to prevent the identification of individuals. For example, users are told within both the statistics report and the methodology document that the data are rounded. 

2.13 In line with our expectations around communicating these types of uncertainties within the data, the authors of the statistics report highlight the limitations and strengths of the data collection, and their treatment of biases and errors due to sampling. The users we spoke to were generally happy with the quality of the statistics and were aware of the limitations of the data. The Workforce Intelligence team makes use of alternative approaches and wider sources to inform areas of missing data and makes efforts to measure the impact of varying levels of question response. 

2.14 The annual completion of some variables, but not others, is mandatory for authorities with adult social services responsibilities. However, the statistics report does not make clear which variables are part of the mandatory collection and which are not. For transparency and to aid the use of the data, we suggest that the statistical report and data tables in the next round of publication should explain more clearly which data are counts and which are estimates. 

2.15 In the glossary of the methodology document, ‘coverage’ is defined as the proportion of establishments that have provided some data and indicates the participation rate in the overall survey. The ‘completion rate’ is defined as the proportion of establishments that have responded to a particular question. However, the text prominently refers to an undefined term – ‘response rates’ – when describing ‘completion rates’. This is confusing for readers, as beyond this survey ‘response rate’ is commonly understood to mean the participation rate in an overall survey. Skills for Care should define and use a consistent term in the text.