Disclosure Act update - February 2026

Important note on fees

There will be no additional cost related to the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme five-year membership change on 1 April 2026 or the separate renewal process. You will continue to be charged per disclosure application - as you are currently. You can read more about PVG scheme applications and the cost for each type of application on our website.

Renewal process will be separate from PVG scheme application process

Renewing your PVG scheme membership will not be the same as applying for a disclosure, these processes will be separate. Renewals will be made through your online account - with an offline process in place for anyone who is unable to use our digital service. Every five years, you will have to renew your PVG scheme membership.

No change to current application process

The 1 April 2026 update does not impact your current application processes. Please do not apply for a PVG scheme application earlier than you would usually or change how often you would apply. You should continue to submit your applications as you normally would using the guidance on our website.

1 April 2026 and moving existing PVG scheme members to a five-year membership

From 1 April 2026, applications made to the PVG scheme will move individuals over to a five-year membership, ending their lifetime membership. Those who do not make an application will be moved to a five-year membership by Disclosure Scotland. You do not need to do anything, and we will contact scheme members before we intend to move you. Our email notifications will be updated to reflect the five-year membership period. You can see an example email notification below, where the individual's membership expires on 1 May 2031.

New self-service feature for organisations in launched

Earlier this month, we introduced a new self-service tool designed to make it quicker and easier for organisations to manage their interest in PVG scheme members. The new feature lets countersignatories (CSGs) remove individuals their organisation no longer needs to monitor - either one-by-one or in bulk. You can read the full article on our website.

Disclosure Scotland’s January 2026 performance round-up

We completed 37,778 applications in January 2026, with an average processing time of 3.8 days. 99.5% of applications were completed within 14 days. Our Service Level Agreement (SLA) is to complete 90% of applications within 14 days. You can read more about our performance and view our performance data on our website.

Marketing, resources and guidance

Our marketing and resources page on our newsroom is accessible to stakeholders. The resources page on our website houses links to our guidance and e-learning courses.