Guidance

The Single Data List: a guide

Updated 2 May 2023

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/single-data-list/the-single-data-list-a-guide

A joint Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities ( DLUHC) / Local Government Association (LGA) guide to the Single Data List which explains the purpose of the List and how the Single Data List process works.

1. Introduction

This guide provides an overview of the purposes and processes associated with the Single Data List. It is aimed at new members/chairs of the Central and Local Government Information Partnership (CLIP) Sub-Groups whose deliberations underpin the Single Data List, as well as colleagues with a new data request who are seeking to understand how the Single Data List process works.

2. The Single Data List

What is the Single Data List?

The Single Data List is a catalogue that lists all the datasets that local government is required to submit to central government. The list is reviewed and updated annually.

Local authorities are not obliged to provide any data which is not on the list without extra funding. The Single Data List is a manifestation of the ‘New Burdens Doctrine’ which states that the net additional cost of all new burdens placed on local authorities (including additional data collections or changes to data collections) by central government must be assessed and fully and properly funded to ensure that the pressure on Council Tax is kept down.

See a copy of the Single Data List.

Why was the Single Data List created?

Data generated by the public sector are an asset and necessary for the effective management of services and for accountability purposes. Robust, transparent and comparable data can also help citizens make informed choices and hold service providers to account. However, the collection, analysis and publication of data can also be burdensome for local authorities.

The list has 2 main functions:

  • It facilitates transparency, bringing clarity for local authorities and the public as to what data central government collects, its purpose and what is available to them. It also allows the elimination of duplication and unnecessary collections.

  • It provides a mechanism for implementing government policy to minimise the data reporting burdens on local authorities – reflecting a need to reduce bureaucracy, the new accountability landscape and the financial pressures facing councils.

Reducing the burden isn’t just about removing returns but also looking at the frequency and timing of existing collections, removing duplication, evaluating existing collections before embarking on new ones, and applying the “collect once, use numerous times” principle (also known by its acronym, the ‘count’ principle). All new data proposals, or amendments to existing data collections, must be cleared by the Single Data List Gateway Group before they can be added to the Single Data List.

This process has the additional benefit of bringing central and local government data users together, thereby creating an opportunity to develop better measures and increase data quality and reliability.

3. Gateway Group and CLIP Sub-Groups

What is the role of the Gateway Group?

Within this context, the role of the Single Data List Gateway Group (‘the Gateway Group’) is to govern the process of adopting changes to the Single Data List. The Gateway Group has a strategic role, setting the minimum standards for the whole process.

This is a joint endeavour, and the Gateway Group is co-chaired by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and a local government representative.

The Group is responsible for ensuring that any new proposed data requirement or change is necessary; fully funded; places a minimal burden on local authorities; and meets at least 1 of the 6 data principles before it can be added to the Single Data List. The Group retains the final decision on whether to accept any changes to the Single Data List. A copy of the 6 agreed principles is attached at Annex A.

What is the role of the CLIP Sub-Groups?

Data requirements can arise from across government. Because the Gateway Group itself has neither the capacity nor the expertise to assess all requirements, it relies on the work of a set of supporting sub-groups. The Central and Local Information Partnership (CLIP) Sub-Groups are useful forums, bringing together data suppliers, compilers and users. They are also responsible for robustly challenging new data proposals before they are submitted to the Gateway Group.

The gateway role of each Sub-Group is, for their area of specialism, to:

  • consider and challenge any new proposed data requirements of local government, or changes to existing requirements, before they can be added to the list
  • help the person submitting the data request to calculate the likely burden on data providers
  • authorise and ‘sign-off’ data proposals for submission to the Gateway Group
  • review on-going data collections recorded on the Single Data List on a rolling basis, to identify data returns or elements of data returns that are no longer appropriate and can be removed

It is important that the Gateway Group is kept informed of the Sub-Groups’ work – including reviews of on-going data collections. The procedure for new/changed data items is set out below.

The CLIP Sub-Groups deal with the following policy areas:

  • finance
  • housing
  • labour market
  • planning
  • transport
  • children’s services, including education (the Department for Education’s ‘Star Chamber’)
  • adult social care (the Department of Health’s ‘Adult Social Care Data Outcomes Board’)
  • environment
  • fire and rescue

The names and email addresses of the Joint-Chairs of each of the CLIP Sub-Groups, and their Secretariat, are shown in Annex E.

4. Cycle of activity

The Single Data List is reviewed, revised and published on an annual basis in order to manage the workload and allow local authorities sufficient time to implement any changes. The Gateway Group has set a timetable clearly setting out the deadlines for submitting new data proposals; the work of the Gateway Group; and publication of the revised annual Single Data List. This will ensure both the smooth running of the process and that local authorities are given sufficient notice of any impending new, or amended, data requirements.

Key annual milestones are as follows:

  • End September: deadline for proposals for changes to the SDL to be implemented in the following financial year, to be submitted to the Gateway Group, thus giving data providers sufficient time to align their operational systems.
  • End March: publication of the revised Single Data List for the following financial year.

Note that authorities are not required to submit data for any collection which does not appear on the Single Data List for that year.

To support the process, the Gateway Group normally meets twice a year – in October and February. A copy of the annual timetable is attached at Annex B. It is important to stress that data proposals received outside this timetable will only be considered in exceptional circumstances, and on a case-by-case basis.

5. How to submit a new or changed data item or data collection to the Single Data List

What are the steps for submitting a new or changed data item or data collection to the Single Data List?

When submitting a new or changed data item or data collection for the Single Data List, Sub-Groups should follow the process below:

  • The proposing statistician or policy official should check the proposal against the agreed data collection principles.

  • The proposer should be encouraged to discuss the proposal at a CLIP Sub-Group, to test out issues and practicalities and understand the burdens. It is important that the views of local authority practitioners are sought. This might be informal at first, to shape the data items/collection; but the process should end with a formal discussion where the proposal is challenged and reviewed, and changes or adjustments may be recommended to minimise burden and ensure the data collected is meaningful and robust.

  • The proposer should contact the New Burdens Unit in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to confirm the amount of funding that would need to be made available to local authorities.

  • Once they are satisfied that the proposed data requirement meets the principles; has been accepted by the CLIP Sub-Group; and would be fully funded, the proposer should submit the proposal to the Gateway Group (contact Jamie Thomas, DLUHC - details provided below).

  • The proposal must be submitted using the ‘Top Sheet’ (Annex C) and New Burdens Assessment pro forma (Annex D) to ensure that the Gateway Group have all of the information they need to make a decision. (Please check with Jamie that you are using the most up-to-date version of the forms before starting to complete them). The ‘Top Sheet’ should be signed off by both a central and local government representative on the CLIP Sub-Group. Failure to provide either of these will delay the decision while they are sought.

  • The Gateway Group will decide on whether to accept the proposal on the basis of the CLIP Sub-Group recommendation, and the new burdens assessment (and may contact both in order to clarify points), then report back to the proposer, and record the decision.

If the proposal is submitted to the Gateway Group without having been reviewed by both the relevant CLIP Sub-Group and the New Burdens Unit, then it will be sent to them to undertake this process. If there is no appropriate CLIP Sub-Group, the main group will decide on an alternative process for challenge.

What will the Gateway Group want to know?

When the Gateway Group receives a request to change the Single Data List, either to add a new collection or to amend an existing one, the group will want to be assured that the following issues have been considered:

  • Six key principles – does the change request meet the ‘six key principles’ test?
  • How big is the burden – does the ‘new burden funding’ cover it? Is that enough?
  • Does the new burdens form clearly demonstrate the breadth of consultation with local authorities?
  • Are the data being collected meaningful, both centrally and also locally? Sometimes what appears sensible centrally does not work in practice.
  • Is it useful locally? If not, then central government really needs to make a strong case for why it’s important – in the knowledge that data that is useful locally is likely to be of better quality.
  • Is it nice to know or crucial? If it’s not clear that it’s crucial to know (either centrally or locally) then there is a presumption it can’t be justified.
  • Why does the information need to be collected on a mandatory basis rather than voluntary basis?
  • What is the evidence of effective “challenge” through the CLIP Sub-Group process?

Other questions CLIP Sub-Groups may want to ask

In terms of new requests/returns:

  • Has there been an evaluation of existing data sources before committing to an entirely new collection? Apply the “collect once, use numerous times” (or ‘count’) principle
  • Have justifiable collections been “padded out” with “nice to know”?
  • Is it possible to adopt a sampling approach instead of complete coverage?
  • Have any discussions taken place with suppliers of administrative systems to get the changes made once centrally?

Existing returns:

  • Does the group have a rolling programme to review existing returns over a certain time-period (some groups deal with a substantial number of returns within their area, while others deal with just a few)?

6. Single Data List exclusions

The Single Data List does not include:

1. Data returns which local authorities are asked to complete voluntarily, i.e. where it is up to each Council to decide whether or not they wish to participate;

2. Data which local authorities may be required to provide in the course of applying for, or as a condition of receiving or participating in, a specific grant, project or programme;

3. Returns not directly relating to their role as local authorities – for example, because they are an employer;

4. Ad hoc requests which may be required in exceptional circumstances and

5. Data that councils are required to publish locally to facilitate local accountability, but which are not required to be submitted to central government – for example, data provided under the Local Government Transparency Code of Recommended Practice.

For a collection covered by item 1 above, the request to authorities should make explicit that the return is voluntary. The Gateway Group recommends the inclusion of the following text:

This data collection is not part of the Single Data List, and so completion is voluntary. We encourage Councils to participate where possible in order to ensure the robustness of the data collection, but it is up to each Council to decide whether, or not, they do. {Optional: add description of how the data will be used and why the data are important/beneficial}

For items 2 and 3 in the above list, the requirement to provide data will be set out elsewhere by the relevant body. Item 5 will still need new burdens funding and would likely benefit from discussion with the CLIP Sub-Groups in terms of defining the data and how it should be published, in order to ensure data quality and comparability.

7. Gateway Group accountability

The Gateway Group reports annually to the responsible Director General in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Executive Director in the Local Government Association. When required, for example if the Group cannot reach a decision on a proposed new data requirement, they may refer individual cases in-year to the Director General and the Executive Director.

DLUHC ministers agree the annual publication of the Single Data List.

8. How success of the process is demonstrated

Achievements that demonstrate success will include:

  • evidence that each Sub-Group is delivering, on an on-going basis, a programme of reviews of existing data collections
  • either an overall reduction, or at least a minimisation, of the burden generated by the Single Data List
  • an awareness of the Gateway process across central government
  • a perception that CLIP is a useful discussion forum by both central and local government data users

9. Resources

In order to support the work of the CLIP Sub-Groups, the following resources are made available:

  • an online sharing and learning resource (Local Government Association Knowledge Hub), enabling sub-groups to upload documents, share learning, develop connections with other Central and Local Government Information Partnership members, and engage with other data users or providers who are not CLIP members
  • an over-arching administrative resource to enable sub-groups to develop their online resources effectively

The Gateway Group, and the CLIP Sub-Groups will each meet 2 or 3 times a year, either face-to-face or virtually. Members of the sub-groups will commit up to an additional 5 days a year for undertaking reviews of existing data collections.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will provide the secretariat for both the Gateway Group and the Central and Local Government Information Partnership main group. The Department with lead responsibility for the subject-area covered by each CLIP Sub-Group will provide the secretariat function for each of the Sub-Groups.

10. Contact information

Jamie Thomas, Deputy Head of Profession for Statistics, Analysis and Data Directorate, DLUHC
Email: SingleDataList@levellingup.gov.uk

Roopal Shah, Analyst, Research and Information, LGA
Phone: 020 7664 3181
Email: roopal.shah@local.gov.uk

Annex A: Data collection by government – principles and practicalities

Data generated by the public sector are an asset and are necessary for the effective management of services and to inform accountability structures. Robust, transparent and comparable data can empower citizens, helping them make informed choices and hold service providers to account.

However data collection, analysis and publication can be burdensome. It is government policy to minimise the data reporting burdens on councils – reflecting the new accountability landscape and the financial pressures facing councils. This note sets out the principles that should underpin decisions on the appropriateness of mandatory data collections.

Principles

The key principle is that data requirements should broadly follow accountability structures. In considering whether data collection or publication is required, decision-makers should ask:

Who is accountable, for what, and to whom?

The rationale for any data collection must be transparent and only the minimum amount of data should be collected to meet that requirement. Central government may reasonably require data from local councils:

1. To fulfil international obligations.

2. To support the effective administration of funding. Clarity is important here in highlighting where data are being used as proxies (e.g. free school meals being used as a proxy for need).

3. To support accountability to Parliament for national public funds and national policy decisions.

4. To hold public services to account, at a national level – holding government to account for national delivery.

5. To support the evaluation of economic, social and environmental trends, in the national interest.

6. To provide comparable local performance data, by exception, where it doesn’t already exist, in order to support local accountability by citizens.

The DLUHC Permanent Secretary is required to provide assurance to Parliament that a core accountability system is in place for local government. Accessible and comparable local performance data is a key part of this system; allowing the public, rather than the centre, to hold authorities to account more effectively. Principle 6 allows government to ensure – as a last resort, and to satisfy a public need – that relevant data is available to the public.

Where councils are under a national statutory duty to provide data, they must continue to do so. However, in assessing the reasonableness of a data requirement, central government should not consider the presence of a statutory duty to be a justification, by itself, for continued collection.

The government has a role in ensuring openness and transparency of public data more broadly. Freedom of Information gives people the right to ask for information held by a public body on any subject. The government is introducing a ‘right to data’ so that government held information can be re-used, helping citizens to hold service providers to account. In addition to this, the Code of Practice on Data Transparency sets out the principles and minimum standards on data that should be published by local authorities.

There may also be some circumstances where central government and local partners agree that it would be more efficient for central government to collect, disaggregate and publish comparable performance data, and for that data to be submitted on a voluntary basis. The LGA will be the focal point in most instances for agreeing any such arrangements with local government.

Practicalities

There should be a single clear gateway process, involving both national and local government, to consider any new proposed data requirements on local government, and to review on-going collections on a periodic basis.

Data collection and publication principles should apply universally to the public sector: central government should be subject to the same public scrutiny via transparent data publication as local authorities.

Data requirements should be scrutinised to minimise compliance burdens. For example, Government should be assiduous in

  • Applying the “collect once, use numerous times” (‘count’) principle
  • Considering the timing and managing the frequency of collections
  • Adopting sampling rather than universal coverage where possible
  • Ensuring justifiable data collections are not “padded out” with other nice-to-have data requests
  • Evaluating existing data sources before committing to an entirely new collection process (e.g. by amending or extending the questions posed in existing proforma)
  • Designing and managing existing administrative/management systems so that they can serve statistical/informational purposes as well as operational purposes
  • Increasing the data collection burden only when the potential benefits to users exceed the estimated cost to providers (i.e. the cost/benefit approach).

Data should be published as quickly as possible. If data are important enough to be required from councils, central Government should allocate sufficient resources to process the data in reasonable time.

These principles apply equally to instances where local authorities report data to non-central government bodies, at the request of central government.

Annex B: Annual review timetable

Throughout the year

Who: Departments

Task: Informally notify the Single Data List Gateway Group Secretariat of any potential or newly identified data requirements, as and when they become known.

Quarter 1

Who: Departments

Task: Submit any new/amended and finalised data requirements to relevant CLIP Sub-Groups and complete data burden process for the following year.

Who: CLIP Sub-Groups

Task: In addition to the above, consider any existing data returns for review.

Quarters 2 to 3

Who: Departments

Task: Formally submit data review proposals/plan to Single Data List Gateway Group for the following year.

Who: CLIP Sub-Groups

Task: Submit data review proposals/plan to Single Data List Gateway Group.

Who: Single Data List Gateway Group

Task: Meet to consider new/additional proposals from departments for the following year as well as any existing returns to be reviewed as identified by the local government sector.

Who: CLIP Sub-Groups

Task: Review data proposals for the following year and make recommendations to the Gateway Group.

Quarter 4

Who: Single Data List Gateway Group

Task: Meet to sign off new data requirements for the following year.

Who: DLUHC

Task: Draft Single Data List circulated to departments.

Who: DLUHC

Task: Circulate Single Data List to Gateway Group.

Following Year Quarter 1

Who: DLUHC

Task: Publish Single Data List.

Annex C: Single Data List Gateway Group data collection top sheet

When submitting a new or changed data item or data collection for the Single Data List the proposal must be submitted using the ‘Top Sheet’ – this can be found on the Single Data List page.

Annex D: New Burdens assessment pro forma

The lead department should complete the New Burdens assessment pro forma (this can be tailored to different policies but should cover the same information).

Departments must provide reassurance that the New Burdens doctrine has been met. Any outstanding fields should be completed as more information becomes available.

Section 19 requires sign-off from the appropriate Finance Director.

Annex E: Membership of the Single Data List Gateway Group and Joint Chairs of the CLIP Sub-Groups

Single Data List Gateway Group – membership

CLIP Sub-Group co-chairs and secretariats

Adult Social Care - Data Outcomes Board

Census

Education and Children’s Social Care - Star Chamber

Environment

Finance

Fire

Housing

Labour market

  • Central Government Chair: Debra Leaker (ONS) Debra.Leaker@ons.gov.uk
  • Local Government Chair: Undecided (elected in meeting)

Planning

Population

Transport

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