About us
How we are organised
We work in four teams: adults, children, justice and protection.
Each team is led by a service manager and we report through two chief inspectors to the Executive Director of Scrutiny and Assurance.
We are supported by a team of strategic support officers who provide support and co-ordination to all our scrutiny activities.
What we do
These are the core functions of the strategic inspection team.
- Carrying out strategic inspection work.
- Quality assurance functions – monitoring the completion and quality of:
- Learning reviews (significant case reviews) in relation to children and adults.
- Serious incident reviews (SIRs) in relation to people on community payback orders, drug treatment and testing orders and people supervised on release from prison.
- Investigations into the deaths of looked after children.
3. Providing support to local authorities and partnerships through our link inspector role.
Who we work with
We know that outcomes for children and adults are affected by many factors.
Different services and organisations are involved in providing care and support to vulnerable children and adults and in most cases, social work services are planned and delivered in collaboration with partners.
We also understand that children and adults are all different, with a wide range of life circumstances and experiences.
For this reason, we do not carry out our scrutiny work in isolation but in partnership with children, adults and other organisations. This helps us to be confident that we are taking all relevant factors into account in our scrutiny work.
Inspection volunteers and people with lived experience
Wherever possible, we involve people with lived experience of using services, or of caring for someone who does, in our scrutiny work. We know that this keeps us grounded and often makes it easier for children and adults to share their experiences with us.
The Care Inspectorate has an involvement team that recruits and supports volunteers to work on inspections across our organisation, including strategic inspections. There is a specific team to support young people with experience of care services, between the ages of 18 and 26.
If you have lived experience of social work and social care services, or care for someone who does, and would like to know more about becoming involved in strategic inspections, please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Associate assessors
Associate assessors are professionals from statutory and third sector organisations who work at a strategic level and have significant practice or management experience in services for children, adults or justice. They work as part of an inspection team for one inspection.
We believe that including associate assessors brings current practice perspectives to our strategic inspections. They can help ensure we are partnership-orientated and contribute to our understanding of the contemporary picture of service planning and delivery. At the same time, this involvement provides an ideal opportunity to help build capacity for joint self-evaluation and improvement in local partnerships.
Please check our frequently asked questions for more information.
We are not currently recruiting associate assessors. However, if you are interested in becoming an associate assessor, please check our website which we will update when we are next recruiting.
Our scrutiny partners
Many of the functions of planning, delivering and monitoring services for children and young people and adults and older people are carried out by more than one agency or organisation. For example, through community justice partnerships, children’s services partnerships and health and social care partnerships. So, we often collaborate with these other scrutiny bodies.
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Education Scotland
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Healthcare Improvement Scotland
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Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland
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Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland
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Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland
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Audit Scotland
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Mental Welfare Commission
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Scottish Housing Regulator
Action plan
The CPP is required to prepare a plan detailing the action it intends to take in response to the inspection report and to submit this to the Care Inspectorate within six weeks of publication. Partners may use their own format for this, but actions in the plan should be SMART and linked to areas for development identified by the inspection. The Care Inspectorate’s link inspector will subsequently review the plan ensuring that it addresses the areas for improvement identified during the inspection and provide on-going support in delivering the plan.
Back to Phase Three - need to know more?
Adults with incapacity
Part 4 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 (the Act) allows care home managers to apply to the Care Inspectorate to manage money for service users in certain circumstances, these are:
- that the service is an authorised establishment
- the adult is a resident with incapacity
- that the resident has less than £10,000 (usually)
- the manager of home takes certain steps to manage finances
- money is not derived from benefits.
AWI application form
This form is in two parts. It allows a manager of an authorised establishment to:
- Notify the Care Inspectorate that they intend to manage a resident’s financial affairs.
- Apply for a Certificate of Authority to withdraw and spend the resident’s funds.
Detailed information about managing residents’ finances is available in the Code of Practice for Managers under Part 4 of the Act (the Code)
As a result of the UK Government’s emergent Welfare Reform, references to a number of UK wide benefits identified within the codes have required to be up-dated.
Appendix 1 of the codes refers to particular benefits which cannot be managed under the act. An update of some named benefits was necessary to reflect changes throughout the UK legislation.
In addition, some changes have been made to the examples of goods and services which can be purchased through the use of personal funds, as set out in Appendix 6.
It is very important that you have fully considered the code before completing this form. We need detailed information in order to be satisfied about the steps you have taken before reaching a decision to manage a resident’s finances. Once completed, please send this form to your local Care Inspectorate office with a Certificate of Incapacity completed by a medical practitioner.
You can download a copy of the application form here.
AWI Register
Instructions for use of the AWI Register for Managers
- Click on AWI Register
- Save and file to your computer/server
- Add in the name of your service
- Save copy
- Enter information relating to the interventions in place under Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 in the appropriate page.
- A DWP appointeeships section is included, should you wish to use this section.
- Ensure that the most recent copy of the register is available for inspectors at inspection.
Change of manager where there are Certificates of Authority
When there is a change of manager, we should be informed as soon as is possible. The outgoing manager must ensure that the resident has sufficient funds in place while an application to vary the Certificate of Authority is made.
The new manager must apply for a new Certificate of Authority using the specified form.
Download a copy of the application to vary form here.
Transfer/move of a resident with a Certificate of Authority to another care service
When a resident who has a Certificate of Authority moves from one care home to another, the manager must do the following:
- inform the Care Inspectorate
- inform the care home to which the resident is going
- inform the local authority/care manager
- check that the care home service to which they are moving is an Authorised Established and not Opted Out (see guidance on Opt Out)
- inform the fund holder.
Managers’ continued involvement after resident moves/transfers
When an incapable resident ceases to be in an authorised establishment, the manager of the establishment must continue to manage his/her affairs for an interim period of up to 3 months. This allows time for other arrangements, new certificate of authority to be applied for or the certificate to be revoked.
The need for the manager to continue their role should be considered by the multi-disciplinary team overseeing he resident’s care planning.
The manager must provide the new care service with the resident’s financial records and statements, and return the Certificate of Authority once this is done.
The manager of the service to which the resident has moved to must then make a new application for a Certificate of Authority.
Death of a resident where there is a Certificate of Authority
When a resident dies and there is a Certificate of Authority in place the manager must take the following steps:
- notify the Care Inspectorate immediately
- notify the fundholder
- prepare a statement of accounts for the resident
- return the Certificate of Authority along with the statement of accounts.
Procedure to be followed where a care home closes or registration is cancelled
Where a care home closes voluntarily or through enforcement action, and there are Certificates of Authority in place, the following must be done:
- All Certificates of Authority must be returned to the Care Inspectorate.
- The financial records and statements of the resident(s) must be forwarded to the new care home, where the resident is to be cared for.
Please refer to information above on the movement/transfer of residents where there is a Certificate of Authority.
Guidance on the Payment of Fees to Doctors under Part 4 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000
Under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 (the Act) doctors may carry out an assessment of an individual to assess capacity.
Capacity is defined within the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 as being incapable of:
- acting; or
- making decisions; or
- communicating decisions; or
- understanding decisions; or
- retaining memory of decisions,
by reason of mental disorder or of an inability to communicate because of physical disability. Where a doctor has made an assessment of capacity, and deems that person not to have capacity, a certificate of incapacity will be issued under Part 4 of the Act. This certificate is valid for 3 years.
Fees
A fee may be charged by the doctor carrying out the assessment of capacity and this can be taken from the funds of the adult.
Useful Links
The Office of the Public Guardian
Annual returns
This year's annual returns are now closed. We would like to thank everyone who submitted their annual return to us by the deadline, Sunday 17 March 2024. The information you have provided will help us plan, inform and carry out our inspections and improvement work.
Each year, we ask service providers to complete an annual return to help us plan, inform and carry out our inspections and improvement work.
We also publish a number of annual statistical publications and share some of the information with other organisations, such as the Scottish Social Services Council and the Scottish Government.
The intelligence we gather through annual returns helps us target our improvement activity and support within social care. It is a great source of baseline data across a variety of health and wellbeing indicators which we use to identify, drive and track improvement, for example infection control, nutrition and the recruitment and retention of staff. The data also helps us to identify trends and topics by both geographical area or service type, so that we can see where best to focus our improvement support work, for example, improvement workshops or new resources and guidance for care services across the sector.
Based on feedback we have received from providers and their representative groups about the pressures and challenging context that the sector is currently facing, we have extended the annual return submission period for an additional four weeks. We understand these challenges and are committed to supporting services as much as we can. As part of this, we hope this extension will allow more time for this work to be undertaken.
All service types must complete their annual returns electronically, using our eForms system. It is important that services regularly check their eForms account to make sure that their email address is up to date, and that only authorised people have access to their account. All services should check their eForms email address.
Even inactive services must submit an annual return.
We no longer automatically downgrade services for failing to submit an annual return. This is because we do not believe that non-submission is necessarily a reflection of poor quality of service. We will, however, continue to publish details about submission or non-submission of annual returns within inspection reports. We also reserve the right to make a formal requirement relating to submission of an annual return, or in cases of serious or persistent non-compliance, to issue an improvement notice under s62 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, requiring its submission.
Please note that where the manager of the service has changed, you must formally notify the Care Inspectorate of the correct details. This can be done using our online digital portal.
Related documents
If you have any questions about the annual returns, please read our frequently asked questions.
Find out what has changed in the 2023-24 annual return.
Archived updates
Archived Updates
- Covid-19 FAQ's
- Covid-19 notifications
- Inspection during Covid-19
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Near Me video calls
- Registrations
- Operating your care service
- Information for people and their carers
You can find older updates by clicking the relevant year below:
Archived updates
Archived updates
Archived Updates
- Covid-19 FAQ's
- Covid-19 notifications
- Inspection during Covid-19
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Near Me video calls
- Registrations
- Operating your care service
- Information for people and their carers
You can find older updates by clicking the relevant year below:
Bairns’ Hoose (Barnahus)
Bairns’ Hoose, based on an Icelandic model ‘Barnahus’, will bring together services in a ‘four rooms’ approach with child protection, health, justice and recovery services all made available in one setting. Bairns’ Hoose aims to ensure that every child victim or witness has consistent and holistic support, access to specialist services and receives ongoing therapeutic care from services coordinated under one roof.
The overall vision of a Bairns’ Hoose (Barnahus) in Scotland is that:
All children in Scotland who have been victims or witnesses to abuse or violence, as well as children under the age of criminal responsibility whose behaviour has caused significant harm or abuse, will have access to trauma informed recovery, support and justice.
The key values through which this vision will be achieved are that:
- we are child centered, trauma informed and respect the rights and wellbeing of the child at all times
- we provide consistent and holistic support, which enables children to have their voices heard, access specialist services and recover from their experiences
- we aim to prevent children being re-traumatised and to improve the experience of the criminal justice process for children and families, and
- we demonstrate connectedness and national leadership to uphold children’s rights to protection, support, participation and recovery.
In 2019, the Scottish Government commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate to jointly develop standards which will provide a blueprint for a Scottish Barnahus (Bairns’ Hoose). Also in 2019, a Standards Development Group with representatives from across social work, police, health, justice and children’s voluntary organisations began developing the standards. In March 2020 Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate paused the development of the standards in order to reduce undue strain across the system and prioritise resources to support the national response to Covid-19. A refreshed Standards Development Group recommenced work on the Bairns’ Hoose standards in January 2022.
The final standards are now available to download. We have also developed a version of the standards for children and young people. The standards will help to support a consistent national implementation of the Bairns’ Hoose model.
For further information regarding the project, see other reports published to date:
- Consultation summary report
- Joint impact assessment
- Children’s rights and wellbeing impact assessment
- Bairns’ Hoose Standards: Phase 1 engagement pack
- Standards Scoping Report Bairns’ Hoose (Scottish Barnahus)
- The Foundations for Bairns’ Hoose (Scottish Barnahus)