ctivities. The wider project output comprises a set of detailed reports arising from the work: - “Summarising User Research” (June 2023) - “SSD New Data Workshop Synthesis” (December 2023) - “Future Support Plan (February 2024) - “Final Report” (March 2024, this document) To avoid confusion, it’s important to clarify that the project output does not include any new data sharing arrangements. The product is designed to produce a dataset into a local data store, to a national standard. This enables better data collaboration, but does not mandate it. 6.1. The SSD specification The SSD specification is a dataset specification comprising around 35 separate data tables, their expected contents, and their relationships with each other. This new dataset specification represents a difference in approach from other existing standard datasets in the sector. Where others are designed to satisfy statutory reporting requirements with the minimum possible number of distinct data items, the SSD is instead designed to satisfy typical local reporting requirements with a suitable balance between completeness, ease of use, and adaptability to different purposes. As such, there are more data items here than in any one of the existing statutory data returns, but for the most part the data transformations required to produce the SSD items from a local CMS are much less complicated. We don’t discuss the specification in detail in this report, because the specification is available as a live public document, including guidance notes and version history. However, it’s worth noting a few design principles and decisions informing the shape of the final product: Flexibility The dataset should help LAs interact with data and tailor outputs Completeness The dataset should include all commonly used it