r leaving 16 3.4.15 FTE as at 30 September 2024 17 3.4.16 Number of cases held at 30 September 2025 17 3.4.17 Number of days of work missed due to sickness absence 17 3.4.18 Agency worker length of contract (weeks) 17 3.4.19 Frontline graduate 17 3.4.20 Absent on 30 September 2024 17 4 3.4.21 Reason for Absence 18 3.4.22 Base salary 18 3.4.23 Recruitment and retention payments 18 3.4.24 Other additional payments 18 4. Data return formats 19 4.1 Available formats 19 4.2 Data items with no values 19 4.3 XML format submission 19 4.4 XML header 20 4.5 Local authority aggregate data and worker XML message structure 21 4.6 Special notes for XML returns 22 Version history 1.0 Dates rolled forward. Addition of the following data items are LA level: • <RecruitmentBonus> (N00804) • <RetentionBonus> (N00805) • <PerformanceAward> (N00806) • <CarAllowance> (N00807) • <RelocationPackage> (N00808) • <RegionalWeighting> (N00809) • <CostSWE> (N00810) • <CostDBS> (N00811) • <OtherAllowances> (N00812) Addition of the following data items at social worker level: • <BaseSalary> (N00813) November 2024 5 • <RRPayments> (N00814) • <OtherPayments> (N00815) Removal of following data items: • <QualInst> (N00583) • <CFKSSstatus> (N00644) This specification must be read in conjunction with the current version of the Common Basic Data Set (CBDS) database. 6 1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose, scope and audience This specification describes the 2024 to 2025 local authority children’s and family social work workforce data collection. The data collection covers all local authorities in England, for the period from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. The specification covers the expected data items to be returned to the Department for Education (DfE) and the validation rules applied to the data submitted. It 