Consultations

We are committed to consulting with all our stakeholders about our work.  We value your thoughts and welcome any comments that you have. 

Sign up to our consultation platform to stay up to date with all our open consultations. 

Open consultations

Help shape our new Corporate Plan

We are now developing our new Corporate Plan, taking into account into account the changing landscape of health and social care. We want everyone with an interest in care and in what we do, to have the opportunity to share their views about our strategic outcomes and help shape our new Corporate Plan. Take part in this consultation here.

Closed consultations

Help us improve our equality outcomes

We want to extend our thanks to everyone who provided feedback on our draft equality outcomes 2025-2029, as well as those who shared, liked, and engaged with our posts to help spread the word. Your input, through surveys and conversation cafés has been invaluable in refining our outcomes. We are delighted to share that these updated outcomes have now been approved by our Board and have been published alongside our Equalities Mainstreaming Report. 

Shared inspection framework for ELC services including childminding and school-aged childcare

The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland are working together to progress the development of a shared inspection framework. We would like to thank all those who took time out of their very busy schedules to complete the consultation and provide valuable feedback to support the ongoing development of the shared inspection framework. We are working to address the feedback and issues raised in the consultation as we move forward in developing the shared framework. We remain committed to delivering a shared framework for the sector in September 2024.

Depriving and restricting liberty for children and young people in care home, school care and secure accommodation services

We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation. We recognise that services are treading a delicate balance between taking necessary action to keep children and young people safe, whilst not unnecessarily restricting liberty.  Our new position paper aims to set out our attitude, expectation, and actions around the restriction and deprivation of liberty in care home, school care and secure accommodation services.  This includes circumstances where children and young people may be deprived of their liberty, where their liberty is restricted, or where this is a risk through environmental design and/or care practices. You can see the paper here.

Staffing method framework

We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation. We will review this feedback and issue a repsonse shortly.

Mainstream Boarding Schools and School Hostels Design Guide

We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation. We will review this feedback and issue a repsonse shortly.

Review of our Technology and Digital Opportunities Guide

We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation between March 21 and April 11 2021. You can review the feedback from this consultation here.

Corporate Plan 2022-25

We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation between October 26 and November  28 2021. We will review this feedback and issue a repsonse shortly. 

Draft policy position in relation to registration, and variation of existing conditions, for services for adults with learning disabilities and/or autistic adults where support is linked to accommodation

We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation between November 8 and December 5 2021. You can review the feedback from this consultation here.

Care Homes for Adults – The Design Guide and Care Homes for Children and Young People – The Design Guide

We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation between 21 June and 19 July 2021. You can review the feedback from this consultation, and our response to the feedback below:

• Care Homes for Adults: The Design Guide
• Care Homes for Children and Young People: The Design Guide

Covid-19 FAQs

As information, guidance and practice about Covid-19 is becoming established and less subject to rapid change, we are no longer maintaining the Covid-19 FAQs or the Covid-19 compendium. For key information, visit our Covid-19 information pages and the following links.

Guidance for Adult social care

• SG Adult Social Care Covid-19 guidance: This page holds for example guidance for adult care homes, visiting in care homes, care at home/sheltered housing, day care for adults, testing and vaccine.
  
• NHS Education Scotland: National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM)
• Care Home IPC Manual (CHIPCM)
• CH Cleaning Specification guide
  
• NHS Inform, Coronavirus (Covid-19): Guidance for visiting loved ones in an adult care homeCoronavirus (Covid-19): Guidance for visiting loved ones in an adult care home
  

Guidance for early learning, school aged childcare and childminder settings

• SG Early learning, school aged childcare and childminder settings on reducing the risks of Covid-19
• SG Routine Covid Precautions in Schools: guidance on reducing the risks in schools.
  
• ELC IPC elearning module

Guidance for Children and Young People (CYP)

• SG Coronavirus (Covid-19): residential and secure childcare
  

Other useful links for all social care settings

• Health and Social Care Standards: my support, my life
  
• All social care staff can register for an account with TURAS using this link. Once registered you will have access to a range of online education and training including, IPC modules relevant to social care or equivalent. IPC Foundations module can be found on learn zone.
• SSSC Infection Prevention and Control modules
  
• PHS Social Care Guidance
  
• National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM): This is deemed good practice in all other social care settings that are not adult care homes.
  
• SG Test and protect: Information and support for people who are asked to self-isolate because of Covid-19.
  
• NHS Inform: Covid-19 guidance for general information about Covid-19 and associated Covid-19 outbreak protective measures.
  
• Winter (21/22) Respiratory Infections in Health and Care Settings Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Addendum
  
• Disposal of LFD tests: SEPA position statement.
  
• HSE Disinfecting Premises
  
• National Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland Compendium
  
• SG Coronavirus (Covid-19): advice for people on the Highest Risk List

Equality and diversity

• Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
• Equality, diversity and inclusion statement of intent
• Meeting our Equality Requirements
• Publications
  
• Our policies and strategic workforce plan
• Our staff networks 
• Race Equality in Employment
• Recommendations
• Our commitment to the recommendations
• LGBT Charter Champion Group 
• First Minister’s National Advisory Council on women and girls (NACWG)
• Our position statement on Modern Slavery
• Carer Positive Employer
• Fair Work Framework
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Contact us
  

At the Care Inspectorate, we believe that people in Scotland should experience a better quality of life as a result of accessible, excellent services that are designed and delivered to reflect their individual needs and promote their rights.  We are committed to advancing equality of opportunity, eliminating unlawful discrimination and fostering good relations between all protected characteristics.

Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion

• We ensure that the voice of people who experience care is reflected in all our work
• We promote fairness, equality, diversity and inclusion in all that we do
• We promote dignity and respect and human rights for all
• We recognise and value individual differences and the contributions of all
• We treat people fairly and according to their needs
• We have a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation
• We have a culture where everyone feels valued and included.

As an organisation, our work, has a focus on people’s rights, choices and individual outcomes, the things that matter most to people. We continue to strive to put equality and diversity at the heart of all we do and that’s why we made equality and diversity a key principle of our Corporate Plan.

Equality, diversity and inclusion statement of intent

At the Care Inspectorate we’re committed to creating a culture that embraces equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging for everyone.

At the Care Inspectorate we value, celebrate and fully embrace to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion. This requires us all to recognise and respect each others’ differences. Creating an inclusive work environment where we all feel a sense of belonging helps us to do our best work, which results in the best possible outcomes for people who experience care.

We are a values-driven organisation, which means our values inform and guide everything that we do. Our key values of equity, being person-centred and respectful are the most relevant to equality, diversity and inclusion. We expect everyone to follow the principles that are set out in the Health and Social Care Standards as well as any relevant individual codes of practice.

As an employer, we want to increase the diversity of our workforce and would especially welcome applications from disabled people, people from a minority ethnic background, people of all ages, men (as we have a 81.78% female workforce) people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community and people with care experience. We want a workforce that reflects the wider Scottish population that we serve.

Signed by our strategic management group

The strategic management group have signed this statement to demonstrate our commitment to leading inclusively and to show accountability on making equality, diversity and inclusion integral to the way we do things around here.

Meeting our Equality Requirements

Like other public bodies in Scotland, we are required to meet the requirements of the General and Specific Public Sector Equality Duties, as set out by the Equality Act 2010 and the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. We report on our equality obligations under the legislation every two years.  

Publications

In our dual role as a scrutiny and improvement body and a public sector employer, we are committed to meeting our legal obligations in all aspects of our work. We are covered by general and specific equality duties arising from the Equality Act (2010) which helps us to integrate equality into our day-to-day work. We report on our equality obligations under the legislation every two years. Here are our publications:

• 2025: Equalities Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025, appendix 1 and 2
• 2023: Equalities Mainstreaming Progress Report April 2021 - March 2023
• 2021: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2021-25
• 2021: Equalities Mainstreaming Report 2019-21
• 2019: Equal Pay Policy Statement
• 2019: Equality and Diversity Policy
• 2019: Equality Outcomes, Mainstreaming Report and Action Plan 2019-21
• 2019: Equalities Occupational Segregation Data - Disability, Gender, Race 
• 2017: Equalities Occupational Segregation Data

Our policies and strategic workforce plan 

We appreciate and value our workforce and have a range of family friendly and flexible working policies available. We are proud of the range of inclusive work practices we offer colleagues.

We offer equalities training to our workforce and this is built into our induction and includes our managers and leaders. We have a supportive and respectful organisational culture that values equality and diversity and promotes inclusion for our workforce. Our robust people management policies and processes ensure people are treated with dignity and respect in an environment where bullying, harassment, discrimination and victimisation are not tolerated.

Our staff networks 

We make time to listen to our colleagues and give them a voice to share their experiences, listen to their ideas and involve them in our work. We have the following:

• Accessibility network – championing inclusion and accessibility for colleagues with disabilities/long-term health conditions and or neurodivergence.
• Care experience network – supporting colleagues who have lived experience of the care system (i.e. spent time living with and being cared for: by family members other than your parents (formal or informal kinship care); as part of a foster family; in a residential or secure care setting or are adopted.)
• The Corporate Equality Group drives the delivery and progress of the actions from our Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report. A group of our leaders meet on a quarterly basis to support the mainstreaming of equality in relation to all the protected characteristics listed under the Equality Act (2010).
• Equally Safe at work working group – advancing gender equality and actively working to prevent violence against women in the workplace.
• Improving Race Equality network – celebrating cultural diversity, anti-racism and promoting racial equality.
• LGBT+ Charter Champion Group – supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT+) colleagues and promoting inclusion. We attend Pride events to increase visibility about LGBT issues and to be more proactive about LGBT+ inclusion. You can email the group using this address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Menopause network – supporting colleagues going through peri/menopause and raising awareness across the organisation.
• Unpaid carers network – recognising and supporting colleagues who care for loved ones alongside their work. We are a Carer Positive Established Employer and are committed to supporting our colleagues who are carers. We have recently made changes to our Carers Policy which means we offer up to five days (35 hours) paid time off to support carers.

Race Equality in Employment

In November 2020 the Scottish Parliament Equality and Human Rights Committee published a report on Race Equality, Employment and Skills.  

The Public Sector Leadership Summit on Race Equality in Employment took place in March 2021. At the summit, the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities and Human Rights Committee highlighted the persistent issues that impact on outcomes for minority ethnic people in Scotland moving into, staying in and progressing in employment. 

To help us with this vital work we are pleased to be working with CEMVO Scotland.

Recommendations 

The Committee have asked all public sector bodies to accept their recommendations and commit to taking them forward. 

1. The Committee recommends those in public authority leadership positions undertake an assessment of their organisation’s understanding of racism and the structural barriers that may exist within their organisations. Public authorities should integrate their ambitions into their next strategic plan. Their strategic goal should be underpinned by specific outcomes and supported by timely monitoring. Public authorities should be transparent about their targets and their progress in delivering their outcomes.
2. The Committee recommends public authorities should review their recruitment procedures and practice against the Scottish Government’s toolkit and make the necessary changes.
3. The Committee recommends that all public authorities subject to the Scottish specific Public Sector Equality Duty should, as a minimum, voluntarily record and publish their ethnicity pay gap and produce an action plan to deliver identified outcomes.

Our commitment to the recommendations 

The Care Inspectorate pledge to implement the key recommendations of the Scottish Parliament's Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s Race Equality, Employment and Skills: Making Progress? Report.

As public sector leaders, we will be bold and transparent. We will embed the recommendations into the strategic objectives of our organisation and the performance objectives of our senior leaders. We will use equality data to provide insights on race equality within the Care Inspectorate and we will take responsibility to assess our organisation’s understanding of institutional racism and proactively challenge and change practices that disadvantage minority ethnic communities. Vitally, we will ensure that minority ethnic communities are involved in shaping this change. We recognise that taking forward the recommendations represents not a final, but a further step, and therefore this work will form part of the continuum of activity and training to tackle racial inequality in employment, which will be aligned with the key principles of the Scottish Government Race Equality Framework 2016-2030. It is important that we make this commitment clear, not just to each other, but to our staff and people who experience care, who will hold us to account. We have therefore published this commitment on our website and social media.

We are pleased to share we are a signatory of the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter. We know that ethnic minorities still face significant disparities in employment and progression, and that is something we need to change. The Charter is composed of five calls to action for leaders and organisations across all sectors.  We signed up to taking practical steps to ensure their workplaces are tackling barriers that ethnic minority people face in recruitment and progression and that their organisations are representative of British society today. 

LGBT Charter Champion Group 

We attend Pride events to increase visibility about LGBT issues and to be more proactive about being inclusive for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people as an organisation. Our commitment to inclusion and diversity, and to the LGBT community, has been recognised externally.

In 2018 we were awarded LGBT Youth Scotland’s Foundation Charter award and we are the first regulator in Scotland to receive this award. In July 2020 we were shortlisted for the Proud Scot Employer Award Large Business.

In 2020 we became a Stonewall Diversity Champion as we wanted to ensure that all LGBT staff are accepted without exception in the workplace. In February 2022 we achieved the Bronze Employer Award in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index. In June 2022 we were delighted to be awarded the Large Employer Award by Proud Scotland.

Click here to watch a short film ‘Return to the Closet?’ by Luminate Scotland. Older members of the LGBTQI+ community worked with artist Glenda Rome to create a film which illustrated their thoughts and feelings around ageing, being part of the community and what care means to them and the support they’d want from care providers – whether at home or in care homes. Luminate commissioned the film with support from LGBT Health and Wellbeing. Luminate’s Principal Supporters are Creative Scotland, The Baring Foundation and Age Scotland. LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s LGBT Age Community Action Project is funded by Comic Relief.

First Minister’s National Advisory Council on women and girls (NACWG)

We are a circle member of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG). The NACWG was set up to advise the First Minister on what is needed to tackle gender inequality in Scotland and you can read their latest report here. We are now part of a group of supporters and advisors who help generate ideas and solutions that will inform NACWG’s work. 

Our position statement on Modern Slavery

What is Modern Slavery?

We recognise that workers recruited from overseas are a hugely valuable and important part of Scotland’s social care workforce.

Modern slavery is complex; but simply put, it describes a situation where someone is made to do something, and another person gains from this. Modern slavery is about being exploited and completely controlled by someone else, without being able to leave or belief that you cannot leave through threats by person in control. It includes
human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced compulsory labour.

Modern slavery is the deception or coercion of a person for the purpose of exploitation.

Modern slavery can be present in any social care setting and victims could be either staff working in a service or people who are using a service.

Our strategic aim

We will constructively work with partners to end modern day slavery in Scotland’s social care system.

Our regulatory response

Our purpose is to ensure registered care services provide people with safe, high-quality care and to encourage services to improve.

We will be alert to potential cases of modern slavery and to listen sensitively and compassionately when people raise issues with us. We will respond in the following ways:

• If we receive or discover information that may indicate modern slavery, we will identify and record this threat. We will do this even if the person contacting us does not refer to it as modern slavery.
• We will refer identified and potential victims through our established safeguarding referral routes.
• We will monitor registration applications to check for warning si-gns of potential exploitation of skilled workers from overseas.
• We will seek out early indication that sponsor licenses are being exploited by working closely with Home Office and other partners.
• We will not hesitate to take action including proportionate regulatory and enforcement action where modern slavery and unethical recruitment practises pose a potential risk of harm.
• We will work with other organisations to prevent, disrupt and reduce the likelihood of modern slavery in social care.
• We will monitor the modern slavery situation by submitting reports and updates to SMG and ET quarterly or yearly.
• To support our work, we will develop staff awareness/training and procedures.

Carer Positive Employer 

We are a Carer Positive Established Employer and are committed to supporting our colleagues who are carers. We have recently made changes to our Carers Policy which means we offer up to five days (35 hours) paid time off to support carers.

Fair Work Framework 

The goal of the Fair Work Framework is to ensure that by 2025, people in Scotland will have a world-leading working life where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society. 

The Care Inspectorate can support this vision by ensuring the fair work values run through the organisation and embedding fair working practices into everything we do.  We are committed to building a Scotland which champions fair work practices and a diverse workforce.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 

Our work also supports the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Convention sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children are entitled to. As a public body, we are required to publish a report on how our work supports the various articles of the UNCRC. 2020 is the first year we have been asked to report on the UNCRC. Our next report will be published in 2026.

Contact us

If you would like to contact us, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us directly by using contactSCOTLAND-BSL.

2023: Equalities Mainstreaming Progress Report April 2021- March 2023.

Equality impact assessments

2022

• Student Practice Education
• Corporate Plan 2022-25
• Bribery Policies and Procedures
• Information Governance Policy Suite
• PainChek March 2022
• Hybrid Working March 2022
• Employee Survey March 2022
• Intelligence Model (CIIM) February 2022
• Screen Memories - Reminiscence February 2022
• TEC Good Practice Guide February 2022
• Joint inspection of Adult Services 2022
• Scrutiny and Assurance Plan 2022
• Improvement and Involvement Strategy 2022-2025
• ASP JIAS quarter 3 report 2021-22
• Associate assessors in the strategic inspection teams
• Complaints and registration apps EqIA screening
• Experience and outcomes of young people in secure care
• Lens - Andrew Nelson
• Model Code of Conduct for Board members EqIA screening
• Monitoring our performance report
• QI foundation programme EQIA screening form
• Safe staffing programme EqIA
• Scheme of delegation
• SCIL self-evaluation provider feedback
• Screen memories project

2021

• Psychoactive medicines use in care homes
• National Improvement Programme for Social Care (design phase)
• Self Eval
• Inactive
• Appropriate Adults
• Safe Staffing Project May 2021
• Stonewall Diversity Champion Membership May 2021
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy April 2021

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2020

• Maximising Attendance Policy May 2020 
• Learning & Development Policy May 2020
• Dignity at Work Policy May 2020
• Capability Policy May 2020
  
• Proposed changes to the senior inspector role November 2020
• Job Evaluation (Inspector, Senior Inspector & Team Manager) September 2020
• Involvement Policy Suite November 2020

2019

• Relocation

2018

• Partnership Agreement
• Further Study Policy March 2018
• LEAD/ Performance Development & Management System June 2018

2017

• Business Travel
• Discipline
• Retirement
• Secondment
• Smoking

2016

• Grievance Policy February 2016
• Corporate Health and Safety Policy February 2016  
  
• Zero Tolerance Policy February 2016 
  
• Salary Protection Policy February 2016 
  
• Workforce Change Policy February 2016

2015

• Flexible Working Policy December 2015
• Homeworking Policy December 2015