| Response
from Scottish Pre-school Play Association
May 2005
Background
SPPA is Scotland’s largest voluntary sector provider of direct
support services to community led childcare organisations, covering
the length and breadth of the country, delivering essential support
and guidance services to providers of pre-school education and childcare
services, including all-day care groups, playgroups, parent and toddler
groups and under-fives groups in Scotland.
Section 25 Regulation of Care (Scotland ) Act 2001
SPPA takes the view that the Care Commission’s inspection of day
care services should be maintained at one per year.
The reasons for this are:
• It currently takes three years through a rolling programme of
inspection, for day care services to be fully inspected against the
National Care Standards. Also, this applies if services are in partnership
with local authorities to deliver pre-school education, against HMI
Education standards. The consequence of changing the frequency of inspection
to less than one per year, reduces the likelihood of all the standards
being fully inspected in the three year time scale.
• Annual inspections help to ensure that minimum standards are
maintained. They help to support development planning and action for
quality improvements.
• Many day care services in the voluntary sector are vulnerable
to frequent changes in management and/or staff. Lengthening the time
between inspections may contribute to a diminution of the quality of
service.
Ian McLaughlan
Chief Executive
Scottish Pre-school Play Association
45 Finnieston Street
Glasgow
G3 8EP
Tel: 0141 221 4148
email: ian.mclaughlan@sppa.co.uk
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