 Essex focused on Children Looked After (CLA) pathways and Leeds focused on Children in Need and Child Protection pathways. Essex County Council submitted a successful joint bid to undertake this work with three London Borough Councils - Camden, Croydon and Sutton, and Data to Insight (D2I). User researchers were employed to recruit participants and carry out the research. Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) joined this consortium later to undertake in-depth data analysis and develop the report. Research goals The aim of the project given by the DfE was to produce evidence to: • help the DfE think about how recording could be made less burdensome and time-consuming for social workers • understand in more detail what information and data social workers are recording, and how social workers’ data recording is impacting their practice • understand more about the value of the information and data that social workers record through their CMS (to them, the children, young people, and families they work with, and to others) • understand whether there might be ways to gather information and data that is of benefit to the wider CSC system in a way that reduces the recording burden on social workers and makes it easier to design CMS that support good social work practice When commissioning the project, the DfE suggested the following assumptions regarding social worker data recording value and potential burdens to be tested through the research: 1. It is at least partly what data collection is required, and the volume of that, which is adding to social worker burden 2. Some statutory data may be offering low value to practitioners (and wider LA consumers) and therefore might be a candidate for cutting 3. There might be potential for data, that is not directly helpful to social workers