Scottish Social Services Workforce Data
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What we do
08
Nov
2013
Our role
We have a responsibility for workforce data and intelligence. The aim of our work is to provide information for Scottish Ministers as required and to produce workforce data, information and intelligence for employers and other stakeholders that supports the development of the sector.
What we are working on
Here you can find information about what we are working on and the dates of our future publications and meetings.
The Core Minimum Data Set (CMDS)
The SSSC has responsibility for and authorship of the CMDS which was created in 2004 to address the need for standard workforce data covering the whole of the sector, using common data standards for key or core data items.
What it means to be an Official Statistics and National Statistics provider
We have responsibilities as a producer of Official and National Statistics. Find out more about our practice in relation to quality assuring data, revisions and corrections to publications and confidentiality. This is where you can find our pre-release and quality assurance access lists.
Mental Health Officer (MHO) survey
17
Sep
2013
The SSSC took over responsibility for conducting the Mental Health Officer (MHO) survey in 2012 from the Scottish Government. The survey covers those social workers employed as Mental Health Officers (MHOs) by Scottish Local Authorities.
The survey is conducted every December and it provides the data for the annual MHO survey report.
The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) assessed the SSSC’s MHO report for compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics in the second half of 2013. This assessment was considered at a meeting of their Assessment Committee in March 2014. The ensuing report identified six requirements to be met by the SSSC to ensure that its MHO publication retained its National Statistics status. The SSSC responded to these requirements in June 2014, and in July 2014, the UKSA announced that their Assessment Committee had approved the recommendation that the SSSC's MHO report should retain its National Statistics status.
The six UKSA requirements and the SSSC’s response to them are documented here.
The official UKSA announcement confirming the retention of National Statistics status for the SSSC's MHO Report is available here.
MHO Survey Group
The MHO Survey Group was chaired and operated by the SSSC as a forum for local authorities who are the main data providers and users of the MHO report. The group met once or twice a year to discuss the operation of the MHO survey. In 2014 the group was merged with the LASWS Staffing Group to become the Local Authority Workforce Data Providers Group (DPG), about which you can read here.
Minutes
You can download papers from previous group meetings:
| Date | Description | File type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 October 2013 | Agenda and minutes | Download | |
| 21 September 2012 | Minutes | Download |
Local authority social work services (LASWS) survey
17
Sep
2013
The SSSC chairs and organises the Local Authority Workforce Data Providers Group (LAWDPG, or DPG for short) as a forum for local authorities and the SSSC to meet and discuss the operation of the LASWS survey. The group usually meets twice a year.
Up to 2014 the group was known as the LASWS Staffing Group, then it merged with the Mental Health Officer (MHO) Survey Group to become the current DPG. The first meeting of the new group took place on 12th November 2014 (agenda, minutes and papers available below).
Minutes and papers
Below you can download minutes and papers from previous group meetings.
| Date | Description | File type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 October 2018 | Agenda and Minutes | Download | |
| 21 June 2018 | Agenda and Minutes | Download | |
| 10 November 2017 | Agenda | Download | |
| 22 June 2017 | Agenda, minutes and papers | Download | |
| 27 September 2016 | Agenda, minutes and papers | Download | |
| 10 May 2016 | Agenda and minutes | Download | |
| 1 October 2015 | Agenda, minutes and papers | Download | |
| 12 November 2014 | Agenda, minutes and papers | Download | |
| 24 June 2014 | Agenda, minutes and papers | Download | |
| 2 October 2013 | Agenda and minutes | Download | |
| 13 September 2012 | Agenda, minutes and papers | Download | |
| 3 May 2012 | Agenda, minutes and papers | Download | |
| 5 October 2011 | Agenda, minutes and papers | Download |
Official Statistics and National Statistics documentation
10
Sep
2013
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and its governance board the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) identified the need for public bodies that produce statistical information to be seen as authoritative and trusted. The UKSA published a Code of Practice for Statistics (UK Statistics Authority 2009) to outline principles of good practice for statistical products and it is against this code that UKSA assess statistics to ensure their quality.
As a producer of Official Statistics in Scotland the SSSC is encouraged to comply with the Code and must comply with the pre-release access rules set forth in the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008. Our 2011 Workforce Data report published in October 2012 was our first Official Statistics publication.
Publications with the National Statistics (NS) kitemark are assessed by the UKSA to ensure they are complying with the Code of Practice (this assessment process is the key difference between OS and NS documents). The report on the MHO Survey was approved as a National Statistics publication when it was undertaken by Scottish Government, and the SSSC took over responsibility for it from December 2012. The UKSA have assessed the SSSC’s MHO publication for compliance with the Code of Practice and the letter of confirmation of National Statistics status can be found here. National Statistics publications must also comply with the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008.
To comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, the SSSC has produced the following documents to set out its practice in relation to quality assuring data, revisions and corrections to publications and confidentiality:
- SSSC Official Statistics Protocol
- SSSC revisions and corrections policy
- Identification of the Needs of Users of Official Statistics and National Statistics
- SSSC Workforce Intelligence Team Statement on Quality
- Statement of administrative sources
- SSSC guide to basic quality assurance in statistics
- SSSC confidentiality declaration
- SSSC data protection policy
- Code of Practice for Official Statistics
- The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008
The SSSC also complies with the Regulatory Standard for the Quality Assurance of Administrative Data (QAAD) issued by the UKSA in January 2015. The Standard recognises the increasing role that administrative data is playing in the production of Official Statistics and sets out what the Authority expects producers of Official Statistics to do to assure themselves of the quality of this data. Full details of the Standard are available at:
Below is the technical report produced in 2017 in response to the requirements of the UKSA QAAD Standard covering the administrative data used in our Official and National Statistics reports:
