1. we help to improve social care standards Local Authority Return 2016

2. NMDS-SC 2016 LA workforce return A Mandatory data return via NMDS-SC to the Health and Social Care Information Centre facilitated by Skills for Care Commissioned by the Department of Health NMDS-SC is on the Department of Community and Local Government Single Data List The window for your return is 12th September to 14th October 2016 All requirements remain the same as last year and can be found at : www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk then click on ‘Help & Guidance’ then ‘click on Help & Guidance for Local Authorities’.www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk

3. Preparation Tips 1.Identify roles and responsibilities throughout the LA and system suppliers, if appropriate. 2.Agree a time plan for when others will get data to the inputter; use those who hold overall responsibility to unblock any barriers 3.Complete a gap analysis – of all the data fields including your qualifications data. 4.Agree a plan to fill any gaps and set clear deadlines. 5.Set up a review for July. Check readiness and identify any areas for concern; seek help with unblocking any barriers. 6.Set a date for uploading in the 1st two weeks of the window, to allow for adjustments and errors. 7.Use the flow chart provided

4. Finding Information  There is a “One Stop Shop” page for LAs which holds all information regarding the annual upload.  This is updated throughout the year and frequently throughout the window  We aim to add FAQs as we get questions from LAs that we know will relate to all  We have developed this page further based on your feedback  This is the first place you should go if you have a query www.nmds-sc- online.org.uk then click on “Help & Guidance” then click “Help & Guidance for Local Authorities”.www.nmds-sc- online.org.uk  Have you watched the LA video? This can be found on the “One Stop Shop” page

5. Finding information www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk then click on ‘Help & Guidance’ then ‘click on Help & Guidance for Local Authorities’.

6. Type of organisation Should be set to LA Adults (BUDI code 1) If yours is a joint return set the parent account to generic and each team/service dependant on whether it is Adult’s or Children's Type of service provided (main service) Parent account should be set to head office services (BUDI code 72) and should only include information about the team which is responsible for the return (not the whole LA.) If the LA has regulated services then the parent account should be set to CQC and the provider number entered. All CQC regulated services should have the correct main services in accordance with CQC (any main service that has three letters in brackets)

7. Capacity This is dependant on main service. All regulated services should have capacity but some teams will not. Any set to head office services is exempt from capacity Utilisation Again, this is dependant on main service as above Number of staff by job role Head count of all staff at each team/service broken down by job role Vacancies Actual vacancies, these are ones that are advertised or you are intending to fill

8. Starters and leavers Within the last 12 months, this is a rolling 12 month period Should add up with last year’s figures i.e. 10 staff last year – 2 leavers and one starter = 9 staff and 1 vacancy (if replacing) Contracted hours If staff are on a zero hours contract remember to fill out the new zero hours contract question. Sickness Within last 12 months – actual days sick (a rolling 12 months) Salary Actual salary not pro rata ( e.g. if you are a service manager on a salary grade of £30,000 for full time, but you only work half time hours then you would enter’ £15,000’, not ‘£30,000 pro rata’.

9. Qualifications data If a worker has no qualifications then the “no qualifications held” box must be selected You must include Qualifications held, you only need to include qualifications working towards if this is helpful for your own use If a worker holds a qualification it must be entered if it isn't on the list use one of the “other” qualifications. If more than 3 qualifications are held then you can insert columns into your CSV file so long as the headings follow this format: QUALSACH04 QUALSACH04NOTES QUALSACH05 QUALSACH05NOTES …and so on, up to a maximum of 99 columns

10. Additional qualifications guidance Be guided by the qualifications list provided on the One Stop Shop page - if it’s on the list, it needs to be logged You need to show worker data for 90% of your staff and qualifications must be shown against all those staff – that can include fields such as ‘no qualifications held’, or ‘not known’. We will encourage LAs to review this category if they show high numbers – because a) you need to get the category right for good data and b) this is how your LA will be shown in the final HSC IC published report, which holds National Statistics status In terms of the ‘other’ categories…be guided by how you want your data to look. Remember you can show ‘other qualifications not relevant to the job role’ – you do not then have to enter further details. GCSEs would fall under ‘any other qualification’. Including GCSEs in English and/or Maths does indicate the qualification level of your workforce. You may wish to record those to give you and others an accurate picture of your organisation in the same way that you would record a ‘basic skills qualification’. Please use the qualifications list to guide you eg Diplomas - Social Work diploma or other approved UK or non-UK social work qualification Try if possible to be positive! Even if your turnover is quite high (and your dashboards will show this) you will still have an overwhelming majority of staff who remain the same.. therefore once qualifications data is in it should only need an annual update and only a small percentage of people will have things to update. Some LAs are capturing qualifications information as part of their New Starters processes

12. Validation and what you need to do  The import must take place during the window but validations can happen just before and as many times as necessary until you are happy with the data. Run the LA Progress report to check you have met the required criteria, this is a live report so can be run after each import.  Early validation of files gives time to correct any errors/issues  Remember, you must click IMPORT after validating..  After successful import send in your confirmation form to nmdssconline@skillsforcare.org.uk  You will receive a reply to either say congratulations or you haven’t met the criteria. As we have to check each account thoroughly this may not happen immediately but we aim to do this within 1 working day  Confirmation form available on your LA page from 12th September

13. NMDS-SC Support Service 0845 873 0129 Manager: Jackie Green Team comprises 2 Support Officers and 4 Support Assistants who can help you with any uploading issues whether it is general questions or technical issues. walk you through the system, show you how it works, what to avoid, show you how to manage BUDI, guide you on how to structure your NMDS-SC account. look at your NMDS-SC on-screen and offer help & guidance by working through it with you Tip: develop a list of questions or issues and then either ring or email Support Service. Why not ring us and book a specific time for a phone based session?

14. Support Team and Locality Managers Once the ‘window’ has opened, all your queries will be dealt with by the Support Team. If you contact your Locality Manager they will direct you to the Support Team. They are not being unhelpful, just ensuring that you get clear and consistent guidance directly from the central resource.

15. Key practices to avoid: No clear roles & responsibilities No clear action plan in place or no monitoring of a plan Not starting to collate data until end of August The single most problematic issue in the past has been the upload sitting with one key person, who for a variety of reasons is unable to manage the task (this might include lack of capacity, not being given data by other depts., leaving the authority, being new to the role, annual or other types of leave and so on) Not ringing our Support Service early enough – please do not struggle, our team can help you. 0845 873 0129

16. Making effective use of your data Are the right people in your LA seeing what NMDS-SC data dashboards can tell them? Our experience is that when the right people get to see what the dashboards can tell them they are very excited at the possibilities for use. The ‘right’ people in our experience so far include: service commissioners, quality assurance and compliance directors, workforce analysts & planners, workforce leads, those involved with Joint Strategic Needs Assessments/ Market Position Statements

17. http://www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk/ Support Service 0845 873 0129