Disclosure Act update

Disclosure Scotland plays an important role in the safeguarding landscape in Scotland.

Our vetting service matches people to criminal records, helping organisations make safer recruitment decisions. We also manage the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme, which includes:

• ongoing monitoring of everyone who is a member of the PVG scheme
• matching millions of updated police records to scheme members annually
• managing a barring service, which follows a fair process to remove those who have a history of harmful or potentially harmful behaviour from regulated work with children or protected adults

You can hear more about our role, including what our stakeholders from Positive Changes, Scottish Nursing Guild and Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), say about us, by watching our ‘Reform in Action’ video.

Disclosure (Scotland) Act changes

The Act will improve the disclosure system in Scotland by removing unnecessary barriers for people with convictions as they seek employment or other opportunities and enhance the PVG scheme. This includes:

• the introduction of simplified disclosure products and people having more control over their information
• an individualised approach to the disclosure of childhood offending and rights of review for convictions disclosed, to enhance fairness and proportionality
• the PVG scheme becoming mandatory for those carrying out regulated roles with children and protected adults
• the ability for Disclosure Scotland to impose conditions on PVG scheme members who are under consideration for listing

Most of the Act will be implemented on 1 April 2025. We will continue our work on implementation in a collaborative manner and with our stakeholders’ participation informing our product design.

From 1 April 2026, lifetime membership of the PVG scheme will be replaced by time-limited scheme membership, with renewal required every five years. We have postponed implementation of time limited membership to engage with stakeholders further on what is required for the transition of existing scheme members to time-limited membership.

Expanding our digital services

We’re continuing to introduce online disclosure results, which is an important development in the move towards the implementation of the Act. This is providing customers with an end-to-end digital service of the PVG scheme and will be available to all of Disclosure Scotland’s customers later this year.

Our customers have told us that this service is delivering a faster, more user-friendly and accessible experience. Organisations can arrange immediate access to our secure online results service by contacting customerengagement@disclosurescotland.gov.scot

Take part in our fees consultation

We’re currently reviewing our fee waivers, discounting and registration fees as part of the delivery of the Act. Our public consultation is available to complete until 28 May 2024.

We’re offering short workshops to review the proposals laid out in the consultation, giving you the opportunity to give your feedback and highlight what should be considered. If you’re interested in these workshops visit our events page. More information on the consultation is also available on our YouTube channel.

What you can do now

PVG scheme members:

• by law, you have a responsibility to tell Disclosure Scotland if your personal details have changed, to ensure we hold accurate information
• for more information on how to update your PVG details, timescales and legal requirements visit our webpage

Organisations:

• by law, you have a responsibility to notify Disclosure Scotland when a PVG scheme member stops doing regulated work with your organisation
• to do this, email dsupdate@disclosurescotland.gov.scot with the individual’s name, date of birth and PVG number

Keep up to date

Keep up to date with changes in Disclosure Scotland on our news section. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and sign up to our quarterly e-bulletin.

Contact

• for more information about the Act, email DisclosureAct@disclosurescotland.gov.scot
• for more information about online disclosure results, email customerengagement@disclosurescotland.gov.scot