This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Child Protection Inspection Programme
26/01/2006
HM Inspectorate of Education has set out its joint inspection programme for child protection services across Scotland with the intention of ensuring vulnerable youngsters get the care and protection they need from authorities.
Multi-disciplinary teams from HMIE's Services for Children Unit will visit nine councils, following successful pilot inspections in Highland and East Dunbartonshire last year.
The aim is for every authority area to be inspected by 2008.
The inspections to start by the end of 2006 are:
- East Lothian
- Angus
- Midlothian
- Argyll & Bute
- Scottish Borders
- South Ayrshire
- West Dunbartonshire
- Orkney
- Edinburgh
Senior Chief Inspector Graham Donaldson said:
"Children's safety is a priority for everyone who works with them. We need to be sure that the services put in place to protect and support our most vulnerable young people deliver all they can. There is no room for complacency.
"These inspections will help us find out about and report on the quality of support children get and the difference it makes to their lives."
The Joint Inspection of Children's Services and Inspection of Social Work Services (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on January 19 and is likely to come into force towards the end of February.
The joint inspection team comprises Her Majesty's Inspectors of Education, the Social Work Inspection Agency, the Care Commission, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.
The children's services to be inspected are services to protect children provided by health and police, by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration and by voluntary and private organisations as well as by local authorities.