An Overview Of Regulations

Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001

The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the Act) established a system of care regulation in Scotland. The Act‘s purpose is to provide greater protection for people in need of care services. We are required by the Act to regulate certain care services.

The Act was made by Scottish Parliament and empowers Scottish Ministers to make regulations and orders to meet the Acts requirements.

We register and inspect services against a set of National Care Standards. The standards outline the quality of service that care service users have the right to expect. They have been developed with the intention that the quality of care provided and received throughout Scotland will be consistent. The standards also ensure that all care services will be measured against a set of general principles. We produce inspection reports for each service once an inspection has taken place.

Regulating care in Scotland from April 2011

What the changeover means for care service providers

We have produced a leaflet for care service providers, to let them know how switching to the new regulator will affect them. Attach:regulating_care_from_2011-what_the_change_means_for_providers.pdf

New agency to lead support for education in Scotland

Michael Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, has announced that HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) will be brought together into a new executive agency - the Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency.

Its role will be to:

• lead and drive forward Curriculum for Excellence
• encourage and support effective innovation
• inspire practitioners and managers to meet new challenges and to be comfortable about doing so
• ensure that quality, standards and outcomes for learners are continually driven upwards to deliver educational excellence
• provide the necessary assurance to parents and others that Scottish education really is playing the key role it needs to in facing the challenges of the 21st century.

Further and more detailed work will be carried out between now and the end of the year to define the scope, functions, structure and leadership of the new agency. The agency will be operational from 1 July 2011. Attach:PrinciplesofInspectionandReview2010.pdf