Who we are

Last updated: 29 April 2026
PDF Who we are Published: 23 March 2026

The Care Inspectorate regulates and inspects all registered social care services in Scotland. From childminders and early learning and childcare, to care homes for adults and older people, it’s our job to make sure that people experience high-quality care.

We register, inspect and grade individual social care services, and deal with complaints about social care services.
We also carry out joint inspections across adult, children’s and justice services with other regulators. Our focus is on how well social care and social work services care for everyone.

We support services to improve so that everyone can get good quality care that meets their needs. When we see that care is not good enough, we can take action to address this.

The services we regulate

We inspect a variety of care services that provide care, support, play and learning to people throughout their lives.

  • support services (including care at home)

  • care homes

  • school care accommodation

  • nurse agencies

  • childcare agencies

  • secure accommodation

  • fostering services

  • adult placement services

  • childminders

  • daycare of children

  • housing support services

  • childcare agencies

  • justice accommodation

  • adoption services

  • child contact centres