Inspection of early learning and childcare and school age childcare services in Scotland

Overview

This consultation aims to gather views on a vision for the future of inspection and what this will deliver for children, families and practitioners, teachers and staff working in the sector from the full range of early learning and childcare (ELC) and school age childcare services, whether or not they currently provide funded ELC.

It is seeking views on the strengths of existing inspection arrangements, where improvements can be made and the proposal to bring forward a shared quality framework to be used in inspection of these services, developed collaboratively by the Care Inspectorate, HM Inspectors of Education (HMIE), sector representatives, practitioners, teachers, staff and children.

Read the consultation paper 

Why your views matter

Scottish Government recognises the enormous value that comes from the diverse ELC and school age childcare sector, which includes local authority, private, childminding, voluntary and school age childcare providers.

We would like to gather views from everyone impacted by the current inspection approach, including inspection and improvement organisations, local authorities, representative bodies, providers, managers, staff and teachers working in every type of provider and parents and carers. The responses to this consultation will be used to inform next steps on the improvement and streamlining of inspection of ELC and school age childcare services in Scotland.

What happens next

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public, and after we have checked that they contain no potentially defamatory material, responses will be made available to the public at http://consult.gov.scot. If you use the consultation hub to respond, you will receive a copy of your response via email.

As part of the consultation process, we will be meeting with representatives from a range of stakeholders, including the inspectorate bodies, representative bodies from the sector and trade unions over the summer and autumn period.

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us. Responses will be published where we have been given permission to do so. An analysis report will also be made available. We will then set out intended next steps, including a proposed timeframe to implement the recommended improvements.