According to the Scottish Government, the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 had two key aims:
- Focus on protecting the public, while balancing the need for people to move on from offending;
- Simplify the process for disclosing criminal history information.
The act makes several changes in this regard, but they key changes to be aware of that come into force next week are in relation to the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme.
From 1 April 2025, anyone who carries out a regulated role in working or volunteering with a child or protected adult (see guidance on regulated roles here) will legally be required to be on the PVG scheme.
There are also changes to the offence lists; various offenses have been added that will be disclosed as part of the process, such as theft and fraud. Applicants can also now request a review regarding their disclosure information before it is issued to their countersignatory.
We were delighted that the Scottish Government decided to continue to provide free PVG scheme membership for volunteers in Qualifying Voluntary Organisations (QVOs). We were signatories on a joint letter from the Cross-Party Group on Volunteering to the Scottish Government asking for the retention of the current fee waiver and responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the issue.
The government’s Disclosure Scotland team are happy to be contacted if you need any clarifications – their contact email is DisclosureAct@disclosurescotland.gov.scot and the Disclosure Scotland helpline is 0300 020 0040.
For further information, please visit the Disclosure Scotland website or get in touch with us at scotland@eauk.org.
