Data is a leadership tool. It helps you understand what’s working, what’s not, and what matters most. As DASS, you are responsible for using data to improve outcomes, reduce inequality, and inform strategic decisions.
This doesn’t mean drowning in dashboards. It means asking good questions, seeking insight, and using evidence with curiosity and care.
Your responsibilities include:
- Ensuring high-quality, timely and relevant data is collected and analysed.
- Using evidence to drive commissioning, performance, and service improvement.
- Sharing insight with councillors, partners and the public.
- Protecting data privacy and promoting ethical use.
Work with your analysts as strategic partners. Involve people with lived experience in defining what counts and what counts most. Move from compliance to learning.
Use data to:
- Understand variation and inequality.
- Monitor risk and resilience in the care market.
- Support integrated planning with health and housing.
- Evaluate innovation and transformation.
Evidence is not just numbers. It includes lived experience, qualitative insight, and practice wisdom. Bring these together to tell a fuller story—and make better decisions.
Build a culture of inquiry in your leadership team. Encourage staff to ask ‘what does the data tell us?’ and ‘how will we know if this is working?’. Use national and regional benchmarking—but always consider local context.
Finally, make data work for people. Use it to ask better questions, not just track old answers. Your leadership can turn information into action—and numbers into change.
More resources:
NIHR School for Social Care Research (2024) Councillors and Care https://sscr.nihr.ac.uk/research/workforce/councillors-in-adult-social-care/#:~:text=Findings%20report%20%E2%80%93%20Councillors%20and%20Care
National Audit Office (2025) Local government financial sustainability https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/local-government-financial-sustainability-2025/#scope-of-the-report
Institute for Fiscal Studies (2024) Reforming local government funding in England: the issues and options https://ifs.org.uk/publications/reforming-local-government-funding-england-issues-and-options
Care Quality Commission (2025) Assessment framework for local authority assurance https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-regulation/local-authorities/assessment-framework
Partners in Care and Health (2025) Your guide to Care Quality Commission assessments for adult social care in councils https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/your-guide-care-quality-commission-assessments-adult-social-care-councils
Partners in Care and Health (2025) Learning from the first wave: Reflections from directors of adult services who have completed their CQC assessment https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/learning-first-wave-reflections-directors-adult-services-who-have-completed-their-cqc
Social Care Institute for Excellence (2025) Embracing change: scaling innovation in social care in practice https://www.scie.org.uk/innovation/accelerating-reform-fund/#report-block
Department of Health and Social Care (2023) Care data matters: a roadmap for better adult social care data https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-data-matters-a-roadmap-for-better-adult-social-care-data/care-data-matters-a-roadmap-for-better-adult-social-care-data