Welcome to the Adult Social Care Client Level Data (ASC CLD) communication and information page.
The ASC CLD project is being undertaken by NHS Arden & GEM CSU in partnership with the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC).
A DHSC project was set up as an extension to the North West pilot areas, building on their successes of working to a standardised social care data specification and linking this data with health data to provide a more frequent holistic view of their system. Despite delays caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, the client level data specification has been agreed in collaboration with social care data leads from 21 local authorities (LAs) who represent all regions in England and the Directions were published in December 2020 to allow ASC CLD data submissions.
The information within the links below is primarily focussed on:
- Supporting local authorities with the onboarding and data submission process
- Supporting and enabling organisations to access ASC CLD data on its own or linked to health data.
ASC CLD specification
Release 1 (valid from 1 April 2023)
There will be no additional fields added to the Release 1 specification prior to April 2023 when the ASC CLD collection becomes mandatory. Early publication of Release 1 Specification and Guidance enables LAs to plan and ensure the relevant data items are collected in readiness for the first mandatory submission in July 2023, covering the reference period, Apr-Jun 2023.
Release 2 (valid from 1st October 2025)
Please Note:
- For queries regarding submissions please contact agem.adultsocialcare@nhs.net
- For queries relating to either Release 1 or Release 2 specifications, or the mapping table please contact socialcaredata@dhsc.gov.uk.
FAQs
Information Governance
Mandatory Directions
- Notice of the ASC CLD data becoming a mandatory collection from April 2023 - September letter to directors of Adult Social Services and contacts for national data collections - NHS Digital
- Collection of Client Level Adult Social Care Data (No 3) Directions 2023 - NHS Digital
- Client-Level Adult Social Care Data (No. 3) - NHS Digital
DHSC sub-licensing
Local Authority Data Privacy Notices
Frequently Asked Questions
If you would like further information about NHS Digital's Data Access Request service (DARS) please use this link.
Please note: you do not need to start an application yourself – please contact us in the first instance at agem.adultsocialcare@nhs.net
Webinars and Case Studies
Resources
Release 1 validation tool
N.B. The validation tool’s primary function is to provide operational assurance that your data will meet the basic requirements to be accepted by the Data landing Portal (DLP) at the point of submission.
Whilst we have sought to include as much intelligence and functionality to the tool as possible it cannot be used to provide insight as to how the data will be interpreted once submitted. It should not be used for governance/management oversight or approval as it is only an operational tool to assist with the data submission process.
There are no further developments planned, however ‘bugs’ will be addressed as soon as possible.
The CLD validation tool is a macro-enabled workbook that has been produced to assist Councils with their CLD development.
This is an offline tool to download and use for your own purposes in a secure internal environment. Paste your CLD data in the same format as the Release 1 template and run the macro. Once the validation has been completed successfully, you will be able to identify specific records and data items that need to be addressed.
The tool includes an instructions page with hints and tips.
It is not essential for you to use the tool prior to submission but it does mean that your data will have had a first pass at validation and this should make the submission to the Data Landing Portal more seamless. Furthermore, by running the tool, you will have access to basic summary statistics which can be used as a sense check, and if any data quality issues are apparent you have immediate access to client details for cross checking with systems.
N.B. Please ensure that you use the copy & paste function of “Paste Values 123” (Values (V)).
This is described in the ‘instructions’ tab on Line 13. Failure to do this will result in ‘date format’ errors being reported by the tool.
Please send any feedback to agem.adultsocialcare@nhs.net.
Additional resources
Submitting ASC CLD data
‘NHS Digital’s Data Landing Portal (DLP)' allows data to be transferred securely between organisations through a centrally managed system. This will be the method used for Local Authorities to submit their data specification.
DLP account registration
- Data Landing Portal instructions
- If you require further support please contact agem.adultsocialcare@nhs.net.
Submission templates
- Release 1 DLP submission template (valid from 1 April 2023)
- Release 1 DLP submission template
- Please note: This document details the criteria that your data submission must meet to be successfully uploaded to the DLP.
Submission timetable
- Submission timetable
- Please note that the submission timetable does not take account of Councils currently submitting to the rolling year, as they will all be at different positions.
ASC CLD data submissions
Please use the step by step guide ‘ASC Local Authority DLP data submission guide’ for instructions and guidance on how to submit your ASC CLD data.
Frequently asked questions
Using the data
Monthly statistics for Adult Social Care
DHSC published the first set of statistics from CLD on March 7th 2024 in DHSC’s monthly statistics for adult social care as official statistics in development. Alongside usual updates, this part of the publication focuses on people receiving long-term support, containing the metric: the number of people receiving local authority commissioned long-term support at the end of each month from 30 April to 31 December 2023, by local authority, region, support setting, ethnicity and age group.
- The commentary and tables can be found here:
Adult social care in England, monthly statistics: March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) - The methodology and data quality statement can be found here:
Adult social care in England statistics: background quality and methodology - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF)
CLD Dashboard
Central Transformation Principles
These documents have now been updated following local authority feedback and reflect the finalised approaches to calculating SALT and ASCOF metrics derived from CLD for 2023/24.
SALT cessation
Transparency statement for local authorities
If you require any more information or guidance regarding submitting data or having access to the data, please email: agem.adultsocialcare@nhs.net
For information regarding the wider remit of the programme, please email: socialcaredata@dhsc.gov.uk
Working in partnership with:
