Corporate parenting

Corporate Parents are public bodies with legal duties and responsibilities towards care experienced children and young people. Part 9 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act, 2014 relates to Corporate Parenting. This applies to every child who is looked after by a local authority, and every young person under the age of 26, who was looked after on their 16th birthday.

Our organisation is one of a list of 24 corporate parents mentioned in the Act. 

​​​​​​​A person is care experienced if they have ever been looked after by a local authority; whether that be in foster care, kinship care, residential care, secure care, or if they have been subject to compulsory measures of supervision at home.  Children and young people who are care experienced have among the poorest outcomes of all children and young people in Scotland. It is our job as corporate parents to try and improve this. 

In 2020, we took the decision to refer to care experienced young people as “our children and young people”. This reflects our values, responsibilities and commitments as corporate parents.

As a corporate parent, we expect to carry out many of the roles any parent should. We have a duty to work with other corporate parents, to best meet our shared responsibilities, promote the wellbeing of our children and young people and keep them safe from harm.

Our Corporate Parenting Report (2017-2020)

Our corporate parenting group has made some significant achievements during the three-year cycle of our plan, which are discussed in our corporate parenting report (2017-2020). We also have a version of our corporate parenting report for children and young people.

Some of our key achievements and improvement include:

• The development of a complaints text service for children and young people and improved materials to inform children and young people on how they can make a complaint.
• Personal care planning guidance: our children and young people have personal plans. These give guidance to care services on how to meet their needs, wishes and choices. We met 120 of our children and young people to help them develop these to a high standard.
• Our young inspection volunteers support a range of our inspection activities. This short video provides a little insight into how they help us  engage with children and young people meaningfully. 
• We have worked with Who Cares? Scotland and our young inspection volunteers to develop and deliver training for all board members, executive group members and senior managers.

Our Corporate Parenting Plan (2021-2023)

Our Corporate Parenting Plan (2021-2023) has six high level commitments with four areas of focus and a set of detailed actions. We have also developed a version of our Corporate Parenting Plan for Children and Young People.

We pledge to listen to our children and young people, take action and do our best to improve their life chances. These are our six commitments. The action plan in our Corporate Parenting Plan (2021-2023) shows in detail how we will meet them:

• We will strive to meet the needs of our young people and promote their rights.
• We will listen to our young people and we will learn how their experiences of the ‘care system’ can best shape our approach to scrutiny, engagement and improvement to help improve the lives of others.
• We will continue to inspect different services and partnerships and report on how well they work together. We will help services share what works well and learn from what needs to improve, to help make sure that our young people get the right support at the right time.
• When one of our young people makes a complaint about the care they receive, we will take that complaint seriously and we will respond in a timely, thorough and proportionate way. We will always provide feedback to the person who made the complaint in a way that they will understand.
• We will improve opportunities for our young people to develop skills, experience, and confidence to achieve their personal, employment and career ambitions.
• We will work with other corporate parents to make sure that together we can do our best for our young people.

Awards and charters

We are a Disability Confident employer committed to inclusion and diversity within our workplace.

The Disability Confident scheme helps employers recruit and retain great people, and to:

• challenge attitudes and increase understanding of disability
• draw from the widest possible pool of talent
• secure high-quality staff who are skilled, loyal and hard working
• improve employee morale and commitment by demonstrating fair treatment

It also helps identify those employers who are committed to inclusion and diversity in the workplace.

The scheme has 3 levels designed to support employers on their Disability Confident journey, these are:

• Disability Confident Committed (Level 1)
• Disability Confident Employer (Level 2)
• Disability Confident Leader (Level 3)

We actively encourage applications from people with a disability by offering an interview, where the candidate meets the minimum criteria for the job.  The criteria can be found on the person specification for each vacancy we advertise. 

We are members of Happy to Translate (HTT) - a national scheme which enables organisations to engage effectively with customers who speak little or no English.

Members are inclusive organisations that are committed to making their services available to all. Guidelines help members to embed an ethos of cultural awareness and sensitivity in every aspect of their communications so that customers are not marginalised as a result of language barriers.

HTT tools and processes equip staff with the skills and knowledge needed to communicate with those who speak little or no English. 

Our LGBT Charter Group works with the LGBT Charter who support us as an inclusive employer. 

We develop policies and procedures that engage with the LGBT community across Scotland.  They tell us about the care services they experience.

Our purpose is to deliver the action plan from our  Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report. ​ We are focused on promoting LGBT:​

•  Equality​
•  Diversity ​
•  Inclusion​

In 2018, we were awarded LGBT Youth Scotland’s Foundation Charter award. 

The real Living Wage is an independently calculated rate based on the cost of living and is paid voluntarily by employers.  

The rate is calculated annually by The Resolution Foundation on an analysis of the wage that employees need to earn in order to afford the basket of goods required for a decent standard of living. This basket of goods includes housing, childcare, transport and heating costs.

Living Wage Scotland was established in April 2014 with the aim of increasing the number of employers in Scotland who are recognised for paying their staff the real Living Wage. Hosted by The Poverty Alliance, Living Wage Scotland works in partnership with the Living Wage Foundation and is funded by the Scottish Government.

We recognise and are committed to the Living Wage.  Being an accredited Living Wage employer demonstrates us as a responsible employer to our staff and networks.

We are committed to being a LGBTQ+ leader, creating an environment where all our employees can flourish and be free to be themselves. 

Please find more information on Stonewall Diversity here.

We have been accredited by Investors in Young People (IiYP) – This is a National Award that recognises the important work that organisations do in assisting young people aged 5 to 25 gain employability skills and who assist them into the world of work.

The IiYP Award recognises and celebrates the important work that the Care Inspectorate has invested in to help young people prepare for future employment and assist them in making their career choice.

Investors in Young People is the only people management standard that focuses on an employer’s recruitment and retention of young people. We are committed to working closely with Skills Development Scotland to offer modern apprenticeship.  This represents a true commitment as an employer to the training and development of young people. 

The Plain English Campaign recognise organisations and individuals who have genuinely made an effort to present themselves using clear and concise English.  Our organisation is committed to providing public information as clear as possible.

Our organisation is committed to providing an environment where people who are bereaved feel supported by the people around them.

Scotland’s first Bereavement Charter for Children and Adults was launched in April 2020.  The Care Inspectorate are proud to have been involved alongside other organisations in the development of the Bereavement Charter. 

It contains thirteen statements which describe what the best bereavement care and support should look like.  It has been developed to support individuals and communities who struggle with the death of someone they know or someone in their community.  The charters is designed to help us understand not only the importance of bereavement support, but what that support needs to look like and attempts to describe what good bereavement support can look like and what difference it can make.  It is hoped that the Charter will help us as a nation become more effective at supporting people to grieve.

Please find more information about the Bereavement Charter here. 

We are proud to announce that we are an Established Carers Positive organisation.  We are committed to providing a working environment where carers are valued and supported.  Carer Positive is funded by the Scottish Government award that is awarded to employers who can provide evidence that they meet criteria in five areas.

• Identification of carers
• Policy
• Workplace support
• Communication, awareness raising and training
• Peer support

Please find more information about Carer Positive here.

Committed to discussing alternative working patterns

Please find more information about happy to talk flexible working here.

We are committed to working with partner organisations to connect 16-24 years olds with opportunities within our workforce.

The Young Person’s Guarantee aims to connect every 16 to 24 year old in Scotland to an opportunity.  This could be a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering.  It could also be an enterprise opportunity.

We recognise our vital role in creating opportunities for Young People as they prepare for and take their first steps into the world of work. 

Transactions Assistant

Role: Transactions Assistant

Location: Flexible – Any Care Inspectorate office (Expectation to work from the Dundee office for your 40% office collaboration per week and for office-based tasks)

Hours: 35 hours per week

Salary: £27,696 - £30,357

Contract: Temporary to 31 March 2025

About us

We are the independent scrutiny and improvement support body for social care and social work services in Scotland. We provide assurance for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is for world-class social care and social work in Scotland, where everyone in every community experience high-quality care, support and learning, tailored to their rights, needs and wishes.   

We inspect individual care services, and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas. 

Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. We are moving towards the expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week. 

About the role

A temporary opportunity has arisen within the Care Inspectorate team that provides services to the Scottish Social Services Council.

As a member of the team, you will undertake a range of general administrative tasks to support the Transactions Manager. Duties will include processing invoices in the financial system, raising purchase orders, providing administrative support in collating banking, receipting income, receipting payments and services and responding to enquiries received.

About you

To succeed in this role, you will:

• Understand financial controls and financial environment
• Have excellent customer service skills and telephone manner
• Provide a range of administration and clerical support to a high standard including database administration
• Organise, process, record and file information and correspondence both electronically and manually
• Be accurate and show attention to detail
• Have a thorough knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel
• Maintain high standards of confidentiality
• Work flexibly as part of a team to support the organisation

Experience of using Oracle financial system and knowledge of debt recovery is desirable.

Next steps

You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.

For an informal chat about the role, please contact the Transactions Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you believe that your expertise and motivation, make you suitable for this post, please download and complete an application form and return by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by no later than 08.00 on Monday 15 July 2024. Please also complete the equal opportunities form and return this along with your application.

The interviews for this post will be no earlier than 23 July 2024. 

Planning Coordinator

Role: Planning Coordinator

Salary: £31,938 - £35,328

Hours: 35 hours per week

Location: Flexible – Any Care Inspectorate office across Scotland

Contract: Temporary for 12 months (potential for further extension)

About the role

The Care Inspectorate's role is to regulate and inspect care and support services, carry out scrutiny of social work services and conduct joint inspections with other scrutiny partners of services for adults and children. We have a significant role in providing assurance and protection for people who use services, their families and carers and the wider public as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland.

In this demanding and challenging role you will manage and co-ordinate the delivery of national inspection planning across a wide range of social care services and services for children and adults. This role ensures that the Care Inspectorate makes the best use of its resources and performs effectively and efficiently as an independent scrutiny and improvement body. This will include the management, co-ordination and delivery of scrutiny and improvement planning activities and plans for the current year. As well as draft plans for subsequent years, ensuring inspection planning activities are consistent with the Care Inspectorate’s objectives and targets.

About you

You will have a strong operational background in planning activities, together with workload planning, prioritisation and allocation experience.

You will be educated to SCQF level 7 (e.g., Advanced Higher, Higher National Certificate (HNC), Professional Development Award, Certificate of Higher Education, Modern Apprenticeship, SVQ, etc.) or have relevant skills and experience in planning coordination.

You will also have supervisory experience and demonstrate a broad level of knowledge of working within inspection/regulation of care and associated IT systems. In addition, you will have excellent communication skills and the ability to translate plans into action.

Next steps

You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.

For an informal discussion about the above post, please contact Deborah Holroyd, Head of Business Change This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - please include a contact telephone number and times that would be best to reach you in your email. 

If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please download and complete an application form and an equal opportunities form and submit it by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 08.00 on Monday 29 April 2024.

It is anticipated that the assessment for this post will be held in person around 8 May 2024. The assessment will be a competency based interview and a skills exercise. 

Our Executive Team

Our Executive Team is responsible for the management and strategic leadership of the Care Inspectorate.  

Jackie Irvine, Chief Executive

Jackie qualified in Scotland before starting her career in London, moving back to Scotland in 1991. 

Jackie has been a Chief Social Work Officer for over 10 years and comes to the Care Inspectorate from her current post as Service Director, Children and Families and Justice Services within the City of Edinburgh Council. 

Jackie has over 30 years’ experience of working in the public sector and has also managed community health services for children. 

Edith Macintosh, Executive Director of Strategy and Improvement

Edith was appointed as Executive Director of Strategy and Improvement in August 2020 after acting in the role as an interim from December 2018.

Edith qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1983 and worked across health and social care holding a variety of roles across Scotland predominantly in the NHS and latterly was service manager for Occupational Therapy services in the NHS in Perth and Kinross until 2009.  From there she joined the Care Inspectorate (then Care Commission) in September 2009 as the Rehabilitation Consultant and provided leadership and improvement expertise for several national initiatives and publications to support providers and partnerships to improve health and wellbeing in the social care sector. 

Edith was in her previous role as Head of Improvement Support since January 2017 and had strategic oversight for developing and strengthening the Care Inspectorate’s improvement support role across Scotland supported by a team of improvement advisors.  She designed the CAPA improvement programme and was the programme lead.  Edith’s great passion is to inspire people and services to improve, realise their full potential and to make a positive difference to the lives of others.

Follow Edith on Twitter @EAMacahp

Kevin Mitchell, Executive Director of Scrutiny and Assurance 

Kevin was appointed Executive Director of the Care Inspectorate’s Scrutiny and Assurance Directorate in February 2016 and led the directorate’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He has lead responsibility for all the regulated care service inspections (children and adults) and the complaints and registration functions.  He also has lead responsibility for the strategic scrutiny of services for children, justice and protection as well the joint inspections of integrated health and care services and services for adults.

Kevin joined the Care Inspectorate in 2011 from the then Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) having been involved in the programme of joint inspections of child protection from 2005.  He was appointed Head of Analysis and Business Planning at the Care Inspectorate in March 2013 and Acting Deputy Director of Inspection (Children's Services & Criminal Justice) in January 2015.

Kevin was previously a senior detective officer in Lothian and Borders police and graduated MSc in Advanced Practice Child Protection from Edinburgh Napier University in June 2014.

Follow Kevin on Twitter @CIKevinMitchell

Jacqueline Mackenzie, Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Services

Jacqueline was appointed as Executive Director for Corporate and Customer Services in November 2020.

Jacqueline has a BA in Accountancy and Business Law from the University of Stirling and is a graduate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland with extensive experience of leadership and strategic management having held a variety of roles in both the public and private sectors.

She has excellent experience in financial and resource management, change management and team building. Jacqueline is skilled at understanding complex organisations and providing the leadership and influencing skills to motivate staff across functions and disciplines to work together to achieve the strategic goals.

Gordon Mackie, Executive Director of IT & Digital Transformation

Gordon was appointed as Executive Director of IT & Digital Transformation in July 2021 after acting in the role as interim from April 2020.

As an experienced IT & transformation leader with a wealth of experience and a sustained record of success across diverse sectors both in the public and commercial environments. 

Gordon boasts a wealth of exposure within aligning technology to business strategies; leading specialist teams and delivering complex, full-cycle business change, transition and transformation projects.  Adept at building and maintaining key relationships at all levels, including clients, stakeholders and suppliers; effectively translating requirements and overseeing all issues through to completion.  Well versed in managing the end-to-end delivery of complex projects across conflicting programmes and proven ability to drive businesses forward.  Experienced in engaging and communicating with relevant internal and external stakeholders, inclusive of C-Level management in all programmes of work.  Both a team player and an independent thinker, with valuable problem solving and decision-making skills and the ability to coordinate with senior leaders to ensure needs are identified and fully addressed.