Staff survey
Inspectors use a survey to gather the views of all staff who work directly with children and young people at risk of harm, about the difference that services are making to their lives and how they are being helped to achieve positive outcomes. In addition to the staff survey, we will invite children and young people, as well as parents and carers, to complete surveys to gather their views about their experiences of services.
CPPs are asked to distribute the staff survey directly to their staff and the Care Inspectorate will provide a link to this at the briefing for partners about the inspection process. The survey takes around 15 - 20 minutes to complete and is aimed at those people who work with children at risk of harm and their families, including health visitors, school nurses, doctors, teachers, social workers, police officers, and staff working in the voluntary and independent sector.
Staff do not have to provide their name, just their current occupation/professional role and job type. Three weeks are allocated for its completion and the analysis of the results are subsequently shared with the CPP.
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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.
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Staffing schedules
The Care Inspectorate has traditionally issued a staffing schedule to relevant service types at the point of registration. This is a historical practice that has continued from previous regulatory bodies. The issuing of staffing schedules has been reviewed over the years, but the practice of some service types having a staffing schedule remains. We have recognised that the majority of staffing schedules in place do not reflect the changing needs of people who currently use the service. In a time of great change across the care sector, we want to promote innovation and also ensure people experiencs high-quality care and support that is tailored to their needs, rights and choices. High-quality staffing that responds dynamically to people’s needs is essential for this.
We recognise that staffing schedules are prescriptive and that they merely set a minimum standard based on numbers and general assumptions around the needs of the residents at the point of registration, which may have changed significantly since then. The staffing schedules are based on the assumption that services operating at full occupancy. They do not take account of changes in residents’ dependency and capabilities, either among long-standing residents or new people coming to live in the home.
Consequently, we have taken the decision to move away from issuing staffing schedules to enable providers to apply judgement and flexibility in demonstrating how they meet the requirements of the relevant regulation (SSI 210 (15) Staffing) which states that:
‘A provider must, having regard to the size and nature of the care services, the statement of aims and objectives and the number and needs of service users…ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent persons are working in the care service in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, welfare and safety of service users.’
We will however retain the discretion to impose conditions about staffing, or any other matter, on any individual care service where that is necessary to ensure people experience high quality care.
The legal framework under which services operate is quite clear that the responsibility for assessing staffing according to need lies with the provider of a care service. The Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice requires us to be proportionate in our approach and we believe that the safety, health and wellbeing of people who experience care can be enhanced without the issuing of fixed staffing notices at the point of registration.
The removal of staffing schedules will also remove reference to the management arrangements, however Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) 210: Regulation 17 (1) (c) – Appointment of Manager states: “A provider who is not, or does not intend to be, in full time day-to-day charge of the care service must appoint an individual to manage the service”. We expect this regulation to be complied with and to see the management arrangements detailed in the aims and objectives for each individual service.
With the removal of staffing schedules, our scrutiny methodology will help provide assurance that the provider has systems in place to assess people’s dependency, regularly and as their needs change. Providers will be required to maintain a daily record of the staffing level and skill mix which results from a dynamic process in relation to the assessment of need and capability.
Quality Indicator 3.3 in the new quality framework for care homes for older people states: ‘Staffing levels are right and staff work well together’. Inspectors can and will evaluate providers systems and processes against this indicator to ensure that there are positive outcomes for people who receive services. We strongly encourage providers to ensure this is part of their self-evaluation and quality assurance systems also.
This approach reflects the Care Inspectorate’s broader shift towards outcomes-focused regulation which seeks to ensure that care and support is responsive to people’s individual needs. Providers of care and support have a clear responsibility to provide effective staffing, and we will continue to ensure through our scrutiny work that this is happening.
From 1 September 2018 we will no longer issue staffing schedules for new registrations. A letter and variation template will be sent to all existing providers for services who have staffing schedules. Between January and 31 March 2019 we will process variations for all providers who return a completed variation template.
It may take some time to complete variations for all relevant registered services. We are therefore unable to give a timescale for completion of individual applications; however, we will endeavour to complete variations as quickly as possible.
Early learning and childcare profiles
Early learning and childcare profiles, by local authority
We have created early learning and childcare local profiles to assist local authority planning for the expansion of early learning and childcare in Scotland.
These profiles are a valuable source of information about daycare of children services in local authority areas. They include information about: number of services and capacity; funded places; trends in children registered; registered children by age; service quality; sessions and opening times; SIMD and urban/rural classification; staffing and vacancies; population estimates and projections; and an early learning and childcare service list of the area.
The profiles focus on those services that provide early learning and childcare (children and family centres, nurseries and playgroups) while our early learning and childcare statistics publication also provides information about out of school care, holiday playschemes and creches.
We welcome any feedback, queries and ideas for improvement for these profiles; please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Early Learning and Childcare Profiles, as at 31 December 2016
Early Learning and Childcare Profiles, as at 31 December 2017
Early Learning and Childcare Profiles, as at 31 December 2018
The Guide
The Guide provides information for community planning partnerships (CPP) about the process for the joint inspection of services for children and young people at risk of harm. This includes services for children under the age of 18 years at the point of involvement with services. It should be read in conjunction with the quality framework for children and young people in need of care and protection (QIF).
The Guide contains a number of hyperlinks. These may be to references within the guide itself or to external sources. If partnerships being inspected have any queries about any part of The Guide they should consult with their inspection lead, or with their link inspector if not being currently inspected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions from the briefing sessions to community justice strategic groups to the Care Inspectorate.
| Questions/Points raised | Response |
| Will the model use a 6 or 4-point evaluation scale? | From on-going discussion, we recognised that a 4-point scale might simplify the model and allow for different language but overall, it was felt a 6-point scale would be more helpful in being able to evaluate and see improvement over time. Using improvement language was viewed as being beneficial. |
| As different partnerships are at different stages in development, there was some reservation about capacity to undertake this work and what the expectations were to undertake self-evaluation. | A second phase of the project has been proposed which would focus on building capacity and confidence in partnerships in undertaking meaningful self-evaluation. Partners thought this was required and as well as support locally, there may be benefits for specific support for some partners on a national basis. The OPI Framework does not specify requirements specifically about undertaking self-evaluation. However, embarking on this work will be externally valuable for partnerships in helping strive for continuous improvement and excellence and establishing a strong sense of performance and key priority areas for action. It will also enable partners to identify key strengths. When Community Justice Scotland comes into being, they may wish to offer further views on this. |
| We sent the initial correspondence for the briefing to chairs of Community Planning Partnerships; this has not always resulted in it being passed on. | We took this approach at the end of March 2016 as we recognised strategic partnerships were at different stages in development and CPP chairs were the one constant. We then followed this up by ensuring we copied all transitions leads in to subsequent correspondence about the briefings and this proved more successful. Subsequent dialogue with local areas has resulted in the decision that we will make all chairs of strategic groups the main contact point with the transition leads copied in to all communication. This should make communication flow easier and more consistent. |
| Partners felt strongly that the language should have an improvement tone. | We agree and will endeavour to ensure the model reflects this. |
| Partners had some reservations about expectations of performance against the quality indicators within the self-evaluation model. This was based on the transition stage and the timing required to embed community justice and how this may reflect performance evaluations. |
We understand there are reservations and there are a couple of elements to consider.
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| Are you speaking to other groups as well as statutory partners? | Yes, we have an extensive approach to engagement and involvement, which will be happening during summer 2016. This will involve a staff survey, service user focus groups and stakeholder focus groups/meetings. |
| Some partners were slightly apprehensive that the staff survey would ask questions about community justice that may still be new or unknown to many staff and were unsure how this would be interpreted and used. | The staff survey is for us to develop the self-evaluation model only. This will be to ensure that a wide range of staff have an opportunity to give their views and influence what the self-evaluation model looks like. The survey is confidential and we will not use it for any other purpose |
| Will partners be able to use the survey questions for their own use? | There is no reason why partners can’t use the content of the Care Inspectorate survey with their staff locally to help gather views and opinions about community justice. They may want to consider amending some or all of the questions to meet local needs |
| Has there been any research done in developing the model? | The proposed model is based on the EFQM framework which is widely known and used and highly regarded across a very wide range of public and private sector organisations. Frameworks based on EFQM have been used to inform scrutiny models in Scotland for many years. In developing this model we are also drawing on existing research, policy and strategy including ‘Reducing reoffending in Scotland’ and ‘Commission on Women Offenders’. |
| Whilst a self-evaluation model is helpful the demand on time was highlighted in respect of evidence. Is there any way to reduce this? | We will consider this when developing the model and plan to include some tips about approaches to gathering evidence. In all of the models we have developed, we encourage partners to use evidence they need to gather anyway, either for the purposes of routine reporting or for ongoing service improvement, rather than undertaking self-evaluation for its own sake. |
| Some partners were slightly concerned about the plans for future inspection of community justice and them being over scrutinised. | The OPI Framework states the intentions for any future inspection of community justice. The Care Inspectorate recognises the need for any scrutiny work to be proportionate, risk-based, targeted and firmly directed at supporting improvement in outcomes for people. |
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
Good practice
The Care Inspectorate has a duty to disseminate good practice to support improved outcomes for people who use social care and social work services across the country.
The over-arching criteria for good practice examples are that they show:
- show creativity and innovation; and
- are clearly resulting in improvements in the well-being of children and young people.
During the course of the inspection, the inspection team may identify areas of good practice which may be reflected in the final inspection report.
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