Data Sharing Portal guidance for supporting information requests

1. Open the Data Sharing Portal.
   If you’re a Data Sharing Portal user migrating to DBIS, read guidance on how to activate your account.
2. Follow the instructions to register and log in.
   For detailed log in steps, read guidance on how to log in. Go to the section ‘Normal sign in experience for DSP users migrated to DBIS’.

Log in support

If you need help logging into the Data Sharing Portal, open a ‘Raise a request’ ticket with Social Security Service Desk.

A member of the Service Desk team will pick up and manage your request. You’ll receive notifications from the Service Desk until the issue is closed or resolved.

In the User profile you can:

• view your details, such as your email address
• set your email notification preferences

To access your User profile:

1. Select your name in the top right corner of the screen, next to the arrow.
2. Select ‘User profile’ from the dropdown.
3. Tick the relevant boxes to confirm:
   1. what requests you want to be notified about
   2. how often you want to receive notifications
4. Select ‘Save notification changes’.
5. Select ‘Return to home’ in the top right of the screen to return to the Dashboard.

On the Dashboard page, you’ll see 3 tabs:

• ‘Open Requests’
• ‘Closed Requests’
• ‘Statistics’

‘Open Requests’

Lists all supporting information requests that are:

• new requests you need to assign
• requests that have been assigned but have not been completed

‘Closed Requests’

Lists all completed and approved supporting information requests.

This information is only stored in the Data Sharing Portal for 5 calendar days.

‘Statistics’

Provides an overview of supporting information requests for your organisation.

You need to assign the supporting information request to the ‘Completer’ and ‘Approver'.

Completer

This person completes the supporting information request form. They are the professional named on the request.

Approver

This person approves the completed supporting information request form. They can be:

• the same person completing the request form
• someone in your Front Door Team, if you want to check and approve the forms

To assign the Completer and Approver to a request:

1. Go to the ‘Open Requests’ tab.
2. Select the request from either ‘New’ or ‘Overdue’.
3. In the ‘Action’ column, select ‘Open request’ to open the request you need to assign.
   
   The request will open
   
4. Select the ‘Add assignees’ button. An ‘Add assignees’ pop up screen will appear.
5. Complete the following fields:
   1. Completer email address (you must complete this field)
   2. Completer job title (you must complete this field)
   3. Approver email address (see below)
   4. Approver job title (see below)
      
      The Completer is the ‘professional’ named in the request. If there’s no named Approver, this role will default to the Completer.
6. If the Completer and Approver are the same person, you only need to enter the Completer’s details. Leave the ‘Approver’ field blank. This field will automatically complete later when you select ‘Save assignees’.
   
7. Select the box next to the sentence starting 'If any of the assignees are not Office 365 enabled...' You must tick this box.
8. Select 'Save assignees'. Follow guidance below if you need to add additional assignees.

You’ll be returned to the main request screen.

After a few seconds, both the ‘Completer’ and ‘Approver’ fields on this screen will automatically populate with the details you entered in the pop up ‘Add assignees’ screen. If the Completer and Approver are the same person, both fields will show the Completer’s details.

You’ll also see a green message at the top of the screen that says ‘Assignee details successfully updated’.

The Completer and Approver will automatically receive an email with a link to the supporting information form.

Add additional assignees

You can add another assignee. For example, there’s another professional at the same organisation contributing to the form who needs access, like another teacher or head teacher. Use the ‘Notes’ field to add any relevant information.

To do this:

1. Select ‘Add another recipient’
2. Complete the new ‘email address’ and ‘job title’ fields
3. If you need to add more assignees, repeat these steps.
4. Tick the box next to the sentence that starts with ‘If any of the assignees are not Office 365 enabled…’ once you have added all the assignees. You must tick this box.
5. Select ‘Save assignees’.

‘Expected overdue’ is when a Completer says they will complete the request, but they’re unable to do this by the deadline. For example, they received the request during the school holidays.

This lets Social Security Scotland know the Completer will provide the supporting information, but it will be submitted late.

To mark a request as ‘Expected overdue’:

1. Go to the ‘Open Requests’ tab.
2. Search for the request using the search fields at the top of the screen.
3. In the ‘Action’ column, select ‘Open request’ for the request you want to update.
   The supporting information request screen will open.
4. Select ‘Query request’ in the top right of the summary field.
   The ‘Request query' pop up window will appear.
5. Complete the following fields:
   1. ‘Query type’ – select ‘Expected overdue’ from the dropdown
   2. ‘Reason’ – select a reason from the dropdown
   3. ‘Additional information’ – enter the reason for the delay
   4. ‘Expected return’ – select the date the supporting information will be sent
6. Select ‘Submit’.
   

You can abandon, close or reject a supporting information request.

Below we explain when you would need to do this:

• Abandon - the request has been open for 56 calendar days or more and Social Security Scotland have said they no longer require the information
• Close - you need to close the request
• Reject - your organisation cannot complete the request. For example, the Completer you need to assign the request to has retired, and there’s no alternative person to send it to

To do this:

1. Go to the ‘Open Requests’ tab.
2. Search for the request using the search fields at the top of the screen.
3. In the ‘Action’ column, select ‘Open request’ for the relevant supporting information request.
   The supporting information request screen will open.
4. Select ‘Query request’ in the top right of the summary field.
   The ‘Request query’ pop up window will appear.
5. Complete the following fields:
   1. ‘Query type’ – select the relevant status from the dropdown
   2. ‘Reason’ – select a reason (only applies to ‘Rejected’)
   3. ‘Additional information’ – enter any additional information you have
6. Select ‘Submit’.
   

1. Use the 3 search filters at the top of the Dashboard page to find a supporting information request.
   1. ‘Benefit type’ – select the relevant benefit from the dropdown
   2. ‘Search by field’ – search by, for example, ‘Due date’ or ‘Professional’ (the person completing the supporting information request)
   3. 'Free text or date field' – this field will change, depending on the option you selected in the ‘Search by field’.
      
2. Select ‘Search’.

3. You’ll see a list of search results in the ‘Search results’ section below the tabs.

The search results will vary, depending on which tab you have open. For example, if you’re in the ‘Closed Requests’ tab, the search results will only list closed requests.

The ‘Statistics’ tab gives an overview of all the statistics related to supporting information requests.

‘Request dashboard’ section

This shows:

• Total received
• Total completed
• Completed within 28 calendar days
• Completed after 28 calendar days
• Average completion time
• Total rejected
• Total abandoned

To search for statistics for a specific time period:

1. Complete the ‘Start date’ and ‘End date’ fields in the ‘Request dashboard’ section.
2. Select ‘Apply’.
   To export the statistics into an Excel spreadsheet, select ‘Export last year of data’.
   

'Trends' section

This section allows you to see trends over time for requests:

• received
• completed
• completed on time (within 28 calendar days)
• completed late (over 28 calendar days)
• rejected
• abandoned

To view a specific time period, use the ‘Start date’ and ‘End date’ fields at the top of the tab.

To report a fault or technical issue, ask your team leader to open a ‘Report a fault’ ticket with Social Security Service Desk.

To add, delete or unlock a user account, ask your team leader to open a ‘Raise a request’ ticket with Social Security Service Desk.

Only team leaders have access to the Social Security Service Desk.

A member of the Service Desk team will pick up and manage your request. You’ll receive notifications from the Service Desk until the issue is closed or resolved