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Scrutiny and inspection

Scotland in 2024

There is evidence of progress across Scotland as organisations with scrutiny and inspection responsibility have worked to integrate the promise into scrutiny programmes and align approaches with promise principles. This includes supporting babies, children and young people on the edges of care and with care experience, and aligning efforts with participation, equalities, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), corporate parenting, national best practices. and upholding Health and Social Care standards.

Across the scrutiny and inspection landscape, there have been positive steps towards valuing children's experiences in inspection feedback. This indicates a proactive approach to enhancing inspection processes and incorporating child perspectives into regulatory practices.

However, the lack of comprehensive data on the 'care system' poses significant challenges to monitoring progress effectively. Criticisms regarding data collection priorities and interruptions in policy reviews, such as the National Care Service consultation, further highlight the need for improved data management practices and policy coherence. These challenges highlight the complexities involved in implementing new regulatory frameworks that align with the promise across Scotland.

Scrutiny and inspection

Where does Scotland need to be by 2030?

By 2030, Scotland will have undertaken a complete overhaul of regulation and scrutiny that centres on listening to children about how they are cared for, their ability to flourish and thrive and that measures the things that matters to them (Pg 27).

This means:

For the workforce:

  • The way that services for children are inspected and the way the workforce is regulated and supported will have been altered and reoriented to uphold relationships so children feel loved, sage and respected (Pg 27).
  • There will have been significant decluttering and streamlining of professional codes, procedures and processes with a clear focus on enabling relationships—above anything else (Pg 28).
  • There will be established, consistent care standards across all providers, subject to independent scrutiny and accreditation that values what children and families value (Pg 111).
  • There will be consistency across all regulators, which will align the evidence base to avoid duplication and ensure shared values and focus between those with inspection responsibility (Pg 119).
  • Accreditation to provide services will follow the application of Scotland wide, core standards and principles. All those providing care will comply with Scotland’s agreed and stated ambition for care (Pg 112).
  • The Care Inspectorate, the SSSC and other regulators will have come together to create a new, holistic framework that values what children value. The framework will apply to the entirety of care journeys, including ‘aftercare’ and advocacy services, focused on children's experiences and their ability to find and sustain safe and nurturing relationships (Pg 119). The rights of children will be at the heart of this framework, so that all services, settings and professionals understand that it is their responsibility to uphold and promote children’s rights (Pg 119).
  • There will be meaningful involvement and collaboration between the Care Inspectorate, the SSSC and regulators across prisons, education and the third sector to ensure all professionals share a language of care and support to uphold the rights and relationships so important to children (Pg 28).
  • Inspection processes will support organisational reflective practice and continuous improvement. There will be a collaborative and appreciative enquiry approach to the inspection of services (Pg 120).
  • Inspectors will take a person-centred approach that values and understands relationship-based practice and will be skilled at working with providers (Pg 119).
  • System analysis will form part of inspection, providing clarity about processes in relation to the overall commissioning of services and how that impacts on delivery (Pg 120).
  • Scotland’s services will have time collectively to reflect on and understand learning from all Significant Case Reviews (Pg 120).
  • Professional regulation and fitness to practice regimes will reflect the value of workforce relationships with children. Investigations into alleged misconduct will seek to uphold not only compliance with policy and procedure but the overall ethos of care and importance of cherishing relationships with children (Pg 120).

For children and young people:

  • Regulation and scrutiny will focus on listening and ensuring that children and young people feel loved, safe, and respected, and that families and care experienced adults feel supported.
  • Children’s voices and their experiences will be the focus of inspection and investigation processes. There will be significant emphasis on listening and responding to what they are reporting about service and professional provision (Pg 119).
  • Inspection and investigation processes will have integrated meaningful participation methodologies into how they assess the quality of services and understand how to listen, present and collate the voices of children into the inspection process (Pg 119).
  • Inspection in settings where children live will focus on the children’s experience of the relationships and will be led primarily by what children say and how they feel they are being cared for (Pg 80).
  • When ‘young inspectors’ are used as part of inspection processes they will receive significant support and training (Pg 119).

These statements and the page numbers referenced are taken from the promise report, published when the Independent Care Review concluded in 2020.

Where does Scotland need to be by 2030?

The route map to get there

Focus must be on the fact that money is not always focused on the right things and budgets are decreasing, leading to overstretched services and increasing numbers of families in poverty. There are clear tensions in what Scotland says it wants for its children and families, and what it is doing with the resources it has. For progress to be made, work must prioritise resolving this to ensure the money that is spent is clearly aligned to need and impact across the 'care system' and all adjacent systems.

  • January - Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate published a Quality improvement framework for early learning and childcare sectors.
  • The SSSC will complete a review of the National Occupational Standards, considering children’s views as part of the review. It will revise language and strengthen elements of the current qualification to meet the ambitions of the promise.
  • June -August: Audit Scotland has confirmed it will be publishing a briefing, on behalf of the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission, on outcomes for care experienced children and young people. This is expected to report in early summer 2025.

The actions outlined in the Voice foundation are fully embedded at every stage to progress actions on Scrutiny and inspection.

What is helping?

The Independent Review of Inspection, Scrutiny, and Regulation of Social Care in Scotland (IRISR) was published in September 2023 and made 38 recommendations. This included a review of health and social care standards, to focus on rights that are person-centred and outcomes-focused; to listen to lived experience; and to ensure that people are involved in decision making around their lives. Further recommendations were suggested about the need for inspection, scrutiny and regulation to be more streamlined, to increase consistency and avoid duplication. The Scottish Government responded in March 2024, accepting all 38 recommendations.

The Care Inspectorate (CI) has taken steps to ensure that relationships have greater prominence in the quality improvement frameworks that underpin inspections. It has taken steps to better integrate children's voices into inspection through applying a LUNDY model lens, contemporary research, examples of good practice and stakeholder collaboration focusing on accessibility and inclusion.

A pilot project is underway to create a feedback loop for children after an inspection, showing them how their views influenced inspection outcomes and subsequent actions.

A refresh of CI’s quality framework and guidance for regulated children and young people's services was published in November 2022, to ensure they are rights-based and aligned with the promise. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Education Scotland are all signed up to this framework.

Changes have been made to the questions asked as part of the inspection of regulated children and young people’s services. This has resulted in creating a more balanced regulatory footprint to support services recovery and development post-pandemic. These questions (Key Question 7) prioritise the quality of children's relationships over care processes and increase engagement with children through more service visits.

There is ongoing consultation with stakeholders regarding CI ‘s inspection methodologies and development of new self-evaluation tools, such as the use of restrictive practices within children’s residential care settings.

Work has been undertaken with CI early learning and childcare (ELC) teams, to align local inspection practices with the promise.

The Secure Pathway Review, published in September 2023, examined the experiences of 30 children living in or at risk of needing to live in secure care. CI met and listened to the children, their parents, carers and the staff who supported them before, during and after experiencing secure care to find out what helped them most. Effective practice and areas for improvement were highlighted.

Education Scotland have been working to improve the awareness, knowledge and skills of education leaders and practitioners to best meet the needs of children and young people who have care-experience through collaboration and professional learning.

The recent announcement to create a new organisation to support the independent His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education is an opportunity to ensure approaches to the inspection of education is in line with the principles of the promise.

SSSC’s Future Proofing Programme (a key initiative to uphold the promise’s call to ‘declutter and streamline professional codes, procedures, and processes)’ resulted in changes to registration in June 2024. The aim is to make registration with SSSC more straightforward, highlighting the benefits and value of being registered. Additionally, the programme aims to inform people about the standards, skills and qualifications required to deliver high-quality care.

Who must act?

Public Bodies

Public Bodies
Scottish Government

Scottish Government
Scrutiny

Scrutiny

Here is what matters to children and families

When organisations and people who support me are given feedback about what they need to be doing better, that feedback is based on what ‘good’ looks like to me, my family, and what matters to us.

Find out more about the what matters questions here.

Also connected to this theme

Documenting decisions
Listening
Participation and engagement
Leadership
Workforce support
Data and information
Governance
Legislation
Rights

Mapping

This is how Plan 24-30 relates to other frameworks and plans

Independent Care Review conclusions  Plan 21-24 priority area
the promise pgs. 27-28; 111-112 What matters to children and families
  Listening
  Building capacity 

 

 

UNCRC GIRFEC
Articles 3; 20 Safe
Concluding observation 13a-b Nurtured
  Respected
  Responsible



Plan 24-30 foundations