Guardianship 2021-24 guidance

The Guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983, SSDA702 is a mandatory collection and was first approved by the Strategic Information Group for Adult Social Care (SIGASC) under the reference number SSDA702. SIGASC has now been superseded by the Adult Social Care Data and Outcomes Board (ASC-DOB).

The collection relates to those patients aged 16 or over subject to Guardianship under Section 7 or 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983. The purpose of Guardianship is to enable patients to receive care in the community where it cannot be provided without the use of compulsory powers. It provides a framework, as part of the overall care and treatment plan, for working with a patient to achieve as independent a life as possible.

The information obtained from the collection is used to assess the impact of on-going mental health policy, and is intended to provide local authorities with the information to make informed decisions and improvements within this area.

This document is intended for use by staff of Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs) and partner organisations, as it provides the information required to populate Guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983, SSDA702 for submission. Keep this guidance document at hand when completing the return.

Changes may occasionally be made to this document and we will notify all users when this happens. The latest version can be found on the adult social care data collections page, alongside the Guardianship data template and all other Adult Social Care data collection materials.

Local authorities are required to submit the last three years records in 2024, covering 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24.

The collection tool for the 2021-24 reporting years will again be the Strategic Data Collection System (SDCS). On here you will find guidance for using the system.

Note the table and information requested in this document are required for reporting on a national basis. It does not preclude local authorities from collecting additional data at a local level where required.

The Adult Social Care collections Data Dictionary replaces the Equalities and Classifications Framework (EQ-CL) and is intended for use alongside the detailed guidance documents for the Adult Social Care collections including Guardianship. The Data Dictionary is experimental (beta) and we welcome all feedback.

Support is available for local authority colleagues with any further queries or issues. Please contact us by email or telephone using the following details.

For general queries: [email protected], and mark it for the attention of the Adult Social Care Statistics team in the subject line.

Tel: 0300 303 5678

For data submission (SDCS) queries: [email protected]