Workforce data collection 2025

We carry out the workforce data collection every year to give a snapshot of the social care workforce in Wales.

We ask local authorities and independent service providers to send us data on their workforce numbers and characteristics.

We’ve run the collection since 2021, after Welsh Government’s Performance and improvement framework for social services replaced previous collections with a single process managed by us.

The collection is different to information published about the registered workforce as it collects data on everyone working in social care.

It also looks at things like contracts and working hours, as well as joiners and leavers and where they move to and from.

We collect the data to get a better understanding of those who work in social care in Wales.

This improves our ability to make informed and evidence-based decisions about the workforce, so they can be empowered to better support people who use care and support.

We were given the responsibility of collecting this data as we regulate the social care workforce in Wales.

Find out what data we collect.

We analyse the data and present it in a report we publish every year, which gives an overview of the workforce as a whole and breaks the findings down for different settings.

We’ll also use the data to produce related articles and content about different aspects of our findings through the National Social Care Data Portal for Wales.

The only change for 2025 is that, when data collectors tell us about the number of people who work in their settings, the form will show them the equivalent figure they provided to Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) as part of the Annual Returns process.

We know that providers are currently being asked to provide similar data to both our own data collection and to CIW’s Annual Returns. We’re working with CIW to explore how we could reduce the need for providers to have to collect similar information twice.

We need your organisation to send us data through SCWonline.

If you’re a data collector for your organisation, you should see ‘Workforce Data Collection’ appear in the top menu when you log into your SCWonline account.

Once you’ve clicked through to the workforce data collection area of the site, you’ll find guidance on how to complete your return.

It's mandatory for local authorities to send us their data, but data from commissioned providers helps us build a more complete picture of the social care sector in Wales. Commissioned providers are made up of commercial businesses, not-for-profit and third-sector organisations.

Having the fullest picture possible of the size and shape of the social care workforce in Wales helps us to plan ahead.

By providing your data, you're contributing to our understanding of the people who work in social care in Wales.

If you’re unsure who the data collector for your organisation is, please contact data@socialcare.wales.