CYP Now - Routemap to improving council data to build better children’s services

A report by the Institute for Government and Nesta looks at how missing and poor-quality data is affecting children’s and young people’s service provision and finds that much of the data key to making more effective decisions is fragmented and held in silos across local government, central government, and delivery partners (see graphics).

Better data sharing has strategic value for all levels of government. Picture: Adobe Stock

Data collection, management and analysis is too easily treated as an afterthought, but should be central to how local authorities think about policymaking, evaluation and service delivery.

Building a national picture of whether interventions are working is almost impossible, because of a lack of consistent frameworks and measures, and the lack or poor quality of data on children’s needs and provision. A huge amount of even basic administrative data is hard to find in useable form. Even where it exists, it can miss those children in need who are not yet receiving the right support because of its focus on services being delivered.

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