Annex A: final reporting template and guidance
Updated 15 April 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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Paragraph 1.17 of the main guidance sets out what local authorities must submit as part of the final 2025 to 2026 report.
This section provides further detail on the Excel reporting template local authorities must complete and return to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) by the deadline specified below, to fulfil the requirements of the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) in 2025 to 2026.
A final version of the final reporting template can be found on the GOV.UK holding page for this guidance.
Submission of initial fee rate spend data for 2026 to 2027 is required from local authorities within the same template as part of the Single Data List collection.
Completed templates should be submitted to DHSC by emailing msifcorrespondence@dhsc.gov.uk with the document attached.
Local authorities completed their initial 2025 to 2026 returns in June 2025.
Overview and deadline
Local authorities must complete and return the final 2025 to 2026 reporting template to DHSC by 11:59pm on 20 May 2026.
The final reporting template will ask local authorities to provide updated information on each of the metrics collected in the initial report in June 2025. DHSC will use this information to measure performance against the relevant target areas. The final 2025 to 2026 report follows the same general format and structure as the initial report submitted in June 2025.
Local authorities must provide information regarding the spend return and the reporting metrics for the fees target area using the final reporting template. The information submitted as part of the initial report in June 2025 will provide the baseline against which local authority performance will be measured in this final report.
The tables below show what the final reporting template asks local authorities to complete.
Blank cells in the tables indicate where a local authority should provide an answer.
Adding your spend return
Table 1a: select your local authority from the drop-down list
| Description | Data item |
|---|---|
| Local authority name | |
| Total MSIF funding allocation | Financial amount [Automatically populated] |
| Name of individual completing this return | |
| Email address |
Table 1a shows the sections that local authorities need to complete for the spend return section of the initial reporting template. These are:
- local authority name
- name of individual completing this return
- email address
The funding allocation for the local authority chosen will then auto-populate.
Table 1b: confirm whether the MSIF funding has been allocated in full to adult social care
| Description | Data item |
|---|---|
| Select response | Yes or no |
Table 1b shows that local authorities need to select ‘yes’ or ‘no’ under ‘Data item’ to confirm whether their 2025 to 2026 MSIF funding has been allocated in full to adult social care.
Table 1c: confirm your expected administration costs
| Description | Data item (£) |
|---|---|
| Administrative costs of the fund |
Table 1c shows that local authorities need to provide, under ‘Data item (£)’, their expected administration costs as part of MSIF for 2025 to 2026.
Reporting fee rates
Table 2a: report your average external provider fee rate for the service types
| Service type | Final average fee rate for 2024 to 2025 (£) | Provisional average fee rate for 2025 to 2026 (£) (note 1) | Final average fee rate for 2025 to 2026 (£) | Implied percentage uplift between 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 and over home care (£ per contact hour) | [Automatically calculated] | |||
| 65 and over care homes without nursing (£ per client per week) | [Automatically calculated] | |||
| 65 and over care homes with nursing (£ per client per week) | [Automatically calculated] | |||
| 18 to 64 care homes without nursing (£ per client per week) | [Automatically calculated] | |||
| 18 to 64 care homes with nursing (£ per client per week) | [Automatically calculated] | |||
| 18 and over supported living (£ per blended hour, reflecting core and additional hours) | [Automatically calculated] |
Note 1: as reported in initial return.
Table 2a shows that local authorities need to provide across different service types their:
- final average fee rate for 2024 to 2025
- provisional average fee rate for 2025 to 2026 as provided in their initial return
- final average fee rate for 2025 to 2026
Detail any other fee uplifts not described by the categories above.
If possible, provide the same information for these other fee uplifts as asked for in table 2a above. Alternatively, local authorities may wish to provide a link to their published ‘rate card’.
Note 2: the template will include a text box for comments (maximum 1,000 characters).
Reporting workforce capacity and retention
As detailed in the main MSIF guidance, the data for the workforce capacity and retention target area will be reported using Capacity Tracker, as in 2024 to 2025. There is therefore no requirement for local authorities to report workforce data using this template, since it will be collected directly from providers.
To ensure good data coverage and quality, local authorities are asked to encourage their providers to complete their Capacity Tracker returns.
Should the local authority wish to provide additional context on their return, such as planned activities to boost workforce capacity and retention, they should use the text box provided to do so (maximum 1,000 characters).
Reporting waiting times
As detailed in the guidance, the waiting times metric will be derived using data submitted by local authorities to client level data (CLD), as in 2024 to 2025. Local authorities are therefore reminded of the importance of completing their CLD returns in an accurate and timely manner.
Should the local authority wish to provide additional context on their return, such as planned activities to reduce waiting times, they should use the text box below to do so (maximum 1,000 characters).
Reporting market position statements
As set out in the guidance, local authorities are required to provide a link to their published market position statement (or equivalent document) as part of their return. Where more than one document fulfils this role, authorities should reference the most relevant documents, focusing responses on the one that best reflects the largest or most significant part of their adult social care market, and ensuring links are publicly accessible.
Reporting on wider market plans
When responding to questions on wider market plans, local authorities should select the options that best reflect their current position, even where approaches are still evolving. Free text boxes should be used where additional context is needed, but responses should be concise and based on best available information, and no new analysis is required.
Single Data List fee rate reporting
Local authorities are also required to submit an initial fee rate spend for 2026 to 2027 as part of the Single Data List collection. The Single Data List collection for fee rates is replacing MSIF as the mechanism for collecting fee rate data for 2026 to 2027 onwards.
The Single Data List collection for provisional fee rates in 2026 to 2027 is similar to table 2a above for final fee rates in 2025 to 2026. Final fee rates for 2026 to 2027 will be collected around May 2027.