"This document tells you about the principles which HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) is committed to following in the design and implementation of our inspection and review frameworks. The principles have been developed in the context of Scottish Government policy on scrutiny improvement1 and in line with the UK Cabinet Office principles for inspection bodies2 and for better regulation3. The inspection and review frameworks cover all the different sectors of education and children’s services provision which HMIE works in. They are in line with frameworks set up with other partners such as Audit Scotland for scrutiny of local authority services. The ten principles have been approved by HMIE’s Management Board which includes independent members. These principles provide a key point of reference to inform the development of any new approaches to inspection or the review of any of HMIE’s existing approaches. Beneath this set of principles, HMIE will develop and maintain a set of more specific inspection and review guidance which describes how we work in particular sectors or areas of provision. These show how our general inspection and review principles are being put into practice in the particular sector/area concerned. The full set of inspection and review frameworks will be placed in the relevant sector/area sections of the HMIE website as they become available. We have in place a range of mechanisms by which we evaluate and monitor our performance against these ten principles of inspection and review" - page 1
