DPN Ref. No. 2026 / 03 Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Key Performance Indicators
A Data Provision Notice to require the submission of data for Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Key Performance Indicators.
Purpose
The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 places statutory duties on NHS Wales to support children and young people with additional learning needs. The Act aims to improve outcomes and experiences by promoting early identification of need, timely access to support, and effective collaboration between health and education services. Under the Act, NHS Wales must respond promptly to statutory requests and referrals from local authorities and education partners, including providing information or other help (section 65), considering whether NHS treatment or services may benefit a child or young person (section 20), and determining whether provision should be delivered in Welsh where appropriate. National key performance indicator (KPI) data is required to provide assurance that Health Boards are meeting these duties. Standardised national data supports transparency, comparability across Wales, and robust reporting to Welsh Government and external assurance bodies. Health Boards vary in relation to current data capture arrangements, system maturity and reporting capability. A small number of Health Boards have locally developed digital solutions, such as Power Apps and dashboards, that support ALN data capture. However, many continue to rely on manual, spreadsheet‑based processes, email inboxes or service‑level recording, often with limited capacity and resilience. Several Health Boards reported that they do not currently have a single, unified system for capturing or collating ALN activity at Health Board level, and that reporting frequently relies on manual collation by individual staff, creating additional burden and potential single points of failure. Currently, data is collected using varied local systems and processes, which limits national comparability. This data collection seeks to standardise reporting across Wales while allowing Health Boards to continue using existing local systems during an interim period.
Scope of Collection
This data collection captures aggregated Health Board level information on NHS Wales compliance with key statutory duties under the ALNET Act. It focuses on Section 65 requests and Section 20 referrals, including the timeliness of responses against statutory timescales and associated compliance measures. The collection applies to statutory ALN activity for children and young across relevant NHS services up to their 25th birthday.
Form & Manner
The following HBs are required to submit this data collection:
• Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (UHB)
• Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (UHB)
• Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (UHB)
• Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (UHB)
• Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB)
• Powys Teaching Health Board (THB)
• Swansea Bay University Health Board (UHB)
Period of Collection
A pilot phase will begin on 1st September 2026, with the intention to begin formal reporting from 1st April 2027. The submission date will be the 20th working day of the month. The date of the first data submission will be 28th September 2026, including data from August. The form issued by the information requester will contain a list of submission dates for the year. The frequency of the data submission is monthly.
Read the Data Provision Notice
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Reviews
Next Review Date: 1st January 2027.
Previous Reviews
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