Disclosure Act update - special edition!

Review applications

The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 (Disclosure Act) introduces a new process where individuals may apply for disclosure information to be reviewed, and decisions made about whether information should be disclosed, prior to the disclosure being issued to their countersignatory. This provides individuals greater control in the disclosure process before their criminal history information is disclosed. This is known as ‘making a review application.

We have published guidance on how this process works. To ensure we are meeting our customers’ needs we will continue to update the guidance based on feedback.

Regulated roles

From 1 April 2025, the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme becomes a legal requirement for anyone carrying out a regulated role. If you work or volunteer with a child or protected adult in a regulated role or employ someone (paid or voluntary) in a regulated role you must assess your role(s) against the criteria for regulated roles.

We’ve published guidance to help you assess your role(s) against the criteria for regulated roles. You can also use our helpful online guidance tool or view a short video on regulated roles. We will continue to update our guidance based on our customers’ feedback.

If, after using our guidance, you're still unsure our Customer Engagement Team (CET) can help you in your assessment. To use this service, email DisclosureAct@disclosurescotland.gov.scot.

Training

Our CET are continuing their programme of free Disclosure Act training and events, including sessions on regulated roles and how to be an accredited body. You can sign up for these on Disclosure Scotland’s events page. 

Code of Practice

We’ve published an updated Code of Practice under the Disclosure Act. The Code of Practice sets out responsibilities for accredited bodies regarding the use of disclosure information and the exercise of their functions. The Code of Practice applies to accredited bodies who:

• make applications for Level 1 disclosures on behalf of individuals
• the countersigning of applications for Level 2 disclosures under section 11 of the Disclosure Act
• third parties who receive disclosure information through an umbrella body

Accredited bodies must ensure that they are familiar with their responsibilities to adhere to the Code of Practice. Accredited bodies who act as an umbrella body must ensure that those they act on behalf of are aware of their responsibilities under the Code of Practice.

If you have any questions about the Code of Practice, email our CET: customerengagement@disclosurescotland.gov.scot.

Changes to offence lists

The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 (List A and B Offences) Amendment Regulations 2025 amended the offence lists that will be used from 1 April 2025.

As has been the case since 2015, List A includes the most serious offences, such as serious violence, sexual offending, and terrorist offences. List B includes offences that are less serious than List A offences but are offences which still warrant disclosure even when spent, for example, theft and fraud.

You can view the details of these changes in the policy note that accompanied the Regulations.

Children’s hearing outcomes will only ever be disclosed on a Level 2 disclosure subject to a review by the Scottish Ministers under section 13 of the Disclosure Act.

Application process changes – Level 1 and Level 2 disclosures

Sharing disclosures

From 1 April 2025, applicants will have more control over their information. The disclosure process will include a requirement for applicants to:

• share a copy of their disclosure with the accredited body that countersigned the application

or

• notify Disclosure Scotland that they will seek a review of the content of their disclosure (see ‘review applications’ above) prior to sharing with the accredited body

Applicants must consent to share their disclosure with the accredited body regardless of whether it contains any disclosure information. This will end the current process of applicant and countersignatory disclosures being shared at the same time. 

For online disclosures, applicants will share this via their online account, following the instructions in their email/online account. Please see below an example of the email that will be sent to applicants to respond to as part of the online process.

For paper disclosures, applicants should contact Disclosure Scotland via phone or email and ask us to release the countersignatories copy of the paper disclosure.

Organisations should adapt their current recruitment processes to maximise awareness of this new step for applicants. This will enable applicants to have greater control of their information.  

Change to application types

From 1 April, you will be able to apply for Level 1, Level 2, or Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme disclosures, see table below for more information. Please note - where an existing PVG scheme member is applying for a workforce that they are not a member for, they must apply for a ’join’ application, not an ‘existing’ application as they would currently.

Level 1 and Level 2 disclosures

From 1 April 2025, you will be able to apply for Level 1 and 2 disclosures using your online account. If a countersignatory or the applicant have applied for a disclosure using the old product names these will automatically change to Level 1 and Level 2 disclosures. The cost of your disclosure will remain the same.

The fees for our products from 1 April 2025 are:

Product fees

Current product / Equivalent product	Current	Future
Basic Disclosure / Level 1	£25	£25
Standard Disclosure / Level 2	£25	£25
Enhanced Disclosure / Level 2	£25	£25
Enhanced Disclosure / Level 2 with barred list check	£25	£25
PVG scheme record / Level 2 (PVG) (Join)	£59	£59
PVG scheme record / Level 2 (PVG) (Existing)	£59	£18
PVG short scheme record / Level 2 (PVG) (Existing)	£18	£18
Statement of scheme membership / Confirmation of PVG scheme membership	£59 (Join) / £18 (Existing)	£59 (Join) / £18 (Existing)

Accredited bodies

If you are a countersignatory, our accredited body annual subscription from 1 April 2025 will be £125.

Temporary disclosure application freeze

Our online disclosure application services will be unavailable from 1pm on Thursday 27 March to Monday 31 March. All application services will resume on Tuesday 1 April. This is to carry out essential work to implement the Disclosure Act on 1 April. We apologise for any inconvenience.   

Paper applications received during this time will not be processed until 1 April. If you have submitted an application, there is no need to reapply. We will continue to process applications received before 1pm on 27 March and will aim to process your application under our current service level agreement of 14 days.

You will still be able to view your online disclosures.

More information

If you have any questions regarding the temporary disclosure application freeze, or changes to our application services, email us at: response@disclosurescotland.gov.scot or contact our helpline on 0300 020 0040. The opening times are Monday to Wednesday 9am to 4pm, Thursday 11am to 4pm and Friday 9am to 3.30pm. 

For further information and the most up to date news, please visit our website, social media channels and sign up for our quarterly e-bulletin.