We have detected that you are using Internet Explorer to visit this website. Internet Explorer is now being phased out by Microsoft. As a result, NHS Digital no longer supports any version of Internet Explorer for our web-based products, as it involves considerable extra effort and expense, which cannot be justified from public funds. Some features on this site will not work. You should use a modern browser such as Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. If you have difficulty installing or accessing a different browser, contact your IT support team.
Social care
We work with social care data, including social services and safeguarding data, to produce data sets that are used to monitor spending and quality of care and plan and provide services.
Social care data is collected by councils responsible for adult social care through council administration systems. This data is submitted to us by the 152 councils with adult social services responsibilities in England. It is used to track client journeys through the social care system so they can be assessed locally and nationally across England.
Social care data collections cover:
- social services activity
- safeguarding adults
- the Mental Health Act
- the Mental Capacity Act
- surveys of those in receipt of care and their carers
- an adult social care finance return
- summaries of the registers of people who are blind and partially sighted
- a social care minimum data set
Most of the national social care data collections are aggregate (counts of service users, carers, and events), not individual records. The social care data we collect populates the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF). This measures how well the care and support services achieve the outcomes that matter most to people.
The data we collect is used by local authorities to:
- support service planning and improvement
- benchmark against peers
- monitor performance (including against their legal requirements)
- provide local accountability.
Search our social care publications and learn about our social care collections resources
Adult social care workshops 2020
Resources from our local authority adult social care workshops which took place in January 2020.
Social care collection materials 2019
Social care collection materials for the 2018-19 reporting year.
Social care analytical hub
Use the adult social care analytical hub to see interactive reports for each of the social care publications.
Search our social care publications by month and year
Search our social care publications by month and year.
Secondment information pack - Adult Social Care Statistics
Information about secondments into the Adult Social Care Statistics team. Includes information about team, the role, the benefits of the secondment and how to apply.