At the end of March 2016 we issued our Excellence in Care 2 leaflet which detailed the changes to inspection from April 2016 and those planned for 1 July 2016.  We sent a copy of this to all care services in Scotland. 

As highlighted in the leaflet, from 1 July 2016, the Care Inspectorate will look more closely at outcomes for people who use care services.  Please be advised that these changes will not affect childminders and you will continue to be inspected against three quality themes (or four if they employ staff).

We will conclude our formal evaluation of changes made to childminder inspection methodology during 2016/17.