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D2I news for January: check, challenge, and change

Dear Data to Insight colleagues –

 

Please find below another bundle of news, within which I hope you’ll find something of interest. As always, if you want to talk about this stuff, or have ideas for how we can do useful things – or how you’d like to get involved – then reply to this email and let us know what you’re thinking about.

 

Please note that some links below will only work for LA employees with a D2I website account. If you are receiving this email by forward, and are not currently a D2I site member, you can join our mailing list and website by navigating to www.datatoinsight.org and using the Log In / Sign Up link towards the top right of the screen.

  

  1. DfE DDSF project outputs published via D2I website

  2. Safeguarding Pressures Phase 9 published

  3. SSDA903 and CIN Census validation web tools updated

  4. National Voice for Excellence in Safeguarding Tech (NVEST)

  5. Early Help quarterly data and dashboard

  6. RIIA quarterly data analysis and workshops

  7. Upcoming events

    1. Early Help data partnership workshops

    2. RIIA dataset reflective workshops

    3. Next open house

    4. Python workshops

    5. NVEST launch event

  8. Credits

 

 

  1. DfE DDSF project outputs published via D2I website

 

 

In 2022 the DfE launched the Data and Digital Solutions Fund (DDSF), as part of its response to the MacAlister independent review of children's social care. We were involved in some of the projects, including our Standard Safeguarding Dataset project, and the projects, as a whole, generated huge amounts of really useful research and analysis, much of which hasn’t previously found its way into the public domain.

 

This week we’ve published the final reports for all but two of the projects, and they’re available to download from the D2I website. Do take a look at the link above; lots of these reports contain calls for national change, but they also include useful insight which can be applied locally right now.

 

We’re still working on the Standard Safeguarding Dataset, for which you’ll find a “final report” in this collection. If you’d like to find out more about that project in particular, please email us.

 

 

  1. Safeguarding Pressures Phase 9 published

 

 

Safeguarding Pressures Phase 9 is now available, featuring plenty of fascinating and timely insights into our sector, powered in part by Data to Insight's analysis of data provided by LA colleagues, alongside huge amounts of direct input from safeguarding leaders.

 

Many thanks to all our colleagues in LAs across England who contributed datasets and testimonies to help deliver this valuable report. We know it’s not always easy to make time for data exercises like this, but this one is already generating lots of discussion about what works and what doesn’t in the sector. Happy reading!

 

 

  1. SSDA903 and CIN Census validation web tools updated

 

 

We've now updated the 903 and CIN validator web tools with the necessary new rules and fields, so do take a look at these if you’re looking for a good tool to enable a regular year-round data quality practice, to help make statutory returns easier when they roll around each April. Each tool asks you to point it at your local statutory return files, and then it does its magic without moving any data off your network, and without installing anything on your computer – it all runs completely in the local browser.

 

NB: we’ve just received word that the Ofsted provider lists have changed format slightly again, so while we investigate that, the 903 will only accept the pre-January versions of the provider lists. More on this soon.

 

 

  1. National Voice for Excellence in Safeguarding Tech (NVEST)

 

 

Next month we’re helping launch a new user group initiative for children’s safeguarding technology. In the first instance the focus will be on case management systems and how we can work together as LAs and share expertise to ensure we’re getting best value from the various products we use. There’s more detail at the link above.

 

The launch event will happen on Thursday 27th February between 14:00 and 16:30, chaired by Essex County Council. We’re really delighted that Professor Eileen Munro will be joining us to help kick things off; she has been a crucial voice in this kind of conversation, including leading the Munro review for the government in 2011. If you’d like to attend, just email us and we’ll forward an invitation (NB: the launch event will be for LA and trust colleagues only).

 

This might be something which isn’t quite in the remit of some D2I contacts, but if you think colleagues locally would find it useful, please do pass on the details.

 

 

  1. Early Help quarterly data and new dashboard

 

 

We've pushed an update of the Early Help benchmarking tool to our website, for those LAs who participate (if your LA or your region would like to get involved, just email us).

 

Very excitingly, our friends at Somerset Council have also shared the Power BI dashboard they use internal which makes use of the same data. If you’re a member of the partnership and you have access to Power BI locally, you can now download a .pbix file to open in Power BI and benefit from Somerset’s analysis work as well as our Excel benchmarking tool. My favourite thing in the Power BI tool is the map which really helps illustrate things like which stat neighbours are included for your LA, but there’s plenty to play around with. Many thanks to Somerset for sharing this!

 

Please note also that the target date for submitting Q3 data for this collection is February 25th.

 

 

  1. RIIA Q2 analysis and workshops

 

 

Our briefing session last month on Q2 of the RIIA data collection was well-attended and apparently very useful for people who came. Once again, we’ve shared the analysis document on our website (link above). There’s a national overview of interesting themes emerging in the quarterly dataset, which makes for interesting reading independent of the workshop.

 

If you’d like to join the list for invitation to future such workshops, please email us.

 

 

  1. Upcoming events


Early Help data partnership reflective workshops (Next meeting: Thursday 20th March 12:00 – 13:30)

RIIA dataset reflective workshops (Next meeting: Thursday 13th March 12:00 – 13:30)

D2I open house / core tools workshops  (Next open house: Wednesday 19th March at 13:00)

Python workshops (Running weekly on Thursday and Friday afternoons) 

NVEST launch event with Essex County Council and Professor Eileen Munro (Thursday 27th February 14:00 – 16:30)


As mentioned above, we're running quarterly workshops to reflect on the early help collection, and separately on the RIIA quarterly dataset. Please drop us an email if you’d like to attend.


Our “open house” meeting is a regular chance to drop in on a D2I team meeting where we share what we’re working on and talk about how best to help with data work. We try to cover a mix of “technical” and other work. We don’t yet have an agenda for the March session, so if you have particular requests, do let us know.


And separately, we continue to run Python drop-in workshops on Thursday and Friday afternoons, covering a range of subjects advertised in advance. For more information, please email us – we’ll also be running another “Python for beginners” course later in the year, for which we’ve had some fantastic feedback, so if you’re an absolute beginner you can sign up to hear about that at this link: Technical workshops | Data to Insight


Finally, our platform-agnostic IT systems workshop is also happening, as noted in item 4 above.

 


  1. Credits


Credit for recent improvements to our data tools and project work is due to colleagues in: 


Somerset

LIIA

Essex

Hertfordshire

Warrington

Barnet

North Tyneside

Newham

Somerset

Leeds

Camden

Sutton

Croydon

North Yorkshire

Wandsworth

Islington

Southwark

Oldham

Cheshire East

Knowsley

East Sussex

Waltham Forest

Wolverhampton

Department for Education

Ofsted

York


That’s it! If you have any comments, queries or ideas that you want to share, just let us know.

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