Looked After Children Longitudinal Dataset - Scotland

Summary

Abstract

A longitudinal dataset based on annual returns of administrative data on looked after children data supplied by local authorities to Scottish Government for statistical purposes. Looked after children are those children in the care of a local authority.

Contact point

statistics.enquiries@gov.scot
Digital object identifier (DOI)

Not available

Keywords

ADR Scotland Administrative Data Research Administrative Social work Children and young people Social work Looked after children

Publisher

Identifier

https://ror.org/04v2xmd71
Name

Scottish Government
Logo
Description

https://www.gov.scot/about/contact-information/
Contact point

statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

Documentation

Description

The dataset comprises annual returns provided by local authorities that were sent to Scottish Government . The data are contained in two tables. Placement dataset with one record per care placement per child giving details of child characteristics, dates and details of episodes of care, and dates and details of care placements. Legal reasons dataset with one record per legal reason for care per child giving details of child characteristics, dates and legal reasons. In the associated media there is a recorded poem 'Change' which may be helpful to watch before accessing the dataset.

Associated media
- Available resource files can be downloaded below.
  
  https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Sibling%20Cafe%20Poem%20-%20Change/1_adzk3as8
  
  https://www.researchdata.scot/engage-and-learn/public-engagement/public-engagement-fund/sibling-data-cafes-for-care-experienced-people/
  
  https://www.adruk.org/data-access/flagship-datasets/looked-after-children-longitudinal-dataset/
  
  File name
  
  Longitudinal Looked After Children Data Analysis 2020 User Guide 1210
  
  Type
  
  .PDF
  
  Download file
  
  File name
  
  Looked After Children Data Dictionary
  
  Type
  
  .XLSX
  
  Download file
Is part of
- NOT APPLICABLE

Coverage

Spatial

Spatial coverage

Scotland
Geographic levels

council area

Temporal

Start date

01/04/2008
End date

31/07/2019
Frequency

Irregular
Distribution release date

12/01/2022

Provenance

Purpose

Administrative
Source

Electronic survey
Collection situation

Local authority

Access and governance

Conditions of access

Access needs approval

Requesting access to this data

This is a secure dataset that can only be accessed by researchers from approved organisations.

Find out how to apply to access this dataset

Usage

Conditions of use

Application of Statistical Disclosure Control
Resource creator

Scottish Government
Is referenced by
Not available

Access

Access rights

https://www.adruk.org/data-access/trusted-research-environments/#tab-c4819
Access service

Access to this data is through submitting a completed application form to the mailbox: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot. The application form is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-statistics-request-our-data/, Find out about accessing secure datasets for research at https://www.researchdata.scot/accessing-data/data-access-overview/
Jurisdiction

GB-SCT
Data controller

Scottish Government
Data processor

Not Applicable

Format and standards

Language

English
Format

CSV

Enrichment and linkage

Related datasets
- Not available
Linkage opportunity

These datasets have been created through the ADR Scotland programme to enable linkage by using the National Records of Scotland population spine. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/nrs-indexing/
Tools
- Not available

Synthetic data

Synthetic data is not yet available for this dataset.

Data dictionary

Table:

Download data dictionary

EPISODE_START_DATE

The first day of each episode a child was being looked after by the local authority

EPISODE_END_DATE

The last day of each episode a child was being looked after by the local authority

LEGAL_REASON_START_DATE

The date on which a legal reason for a particular child's care came into effect

LEGAL_REASON_END_DATE

The date on which a legal reason for a particular child's care ended

LEGAL_REASON

The type of legal reason for a child to be in care of the local authority

LEGAL_REASON_NUMBER

The sequential chronological order of legal reasons for a child

LEGAL_REASON_ISSUE

Any logical errors in the information received over years about the legal reasons for ca...

EXTRACT

The extract period in which a record was received

Variable name	Variable description	Data type
episode_start_date	The first day of each episode a child was being looked after by the local authority
episode_end_date	The last day of each episode a child was being looked after by the local authority
legal_reason_start_date	The date on which a legal reason for a particular child's care came into effect
legal_reason_end_date	The date on which a legal reason for a particular child's care ended
legal_reason	The type of legal reason for a child to be in care of the local authority
legal_reason_number	The sequential chronological order of legal reasons for a child
legal_reason_issue	Any logical errors in the information received over years about the legal reasons for ca...
extract	The extract period in which a record was received