Disclosure Scotland communications: Quarter one update

Five-year PVG scheme update

From 1 April 2026, the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme moved to a five-year membership model. A reminder that you do not need to take any action for the five-year membership right now.

PVG scheme members who joined prior to 1 April 2026, and who subsequently apply for PVG (for example, when they change employer) are automatically moved to the five-year PVG scheme when their application is completed.

Disclosure Scotland will contact members who do not otherwise apply to the PVG scheme before they are moved to a five-year membership. This work will be carried out in batches, based on the date the individual first joined the PVG scheme.

As part of this approach, members who are currently engaged in a regulated role will be prioritised for transition to the five-year membership. We will not begin this aspect of the transition for at least the next few months. We will provide you with further information on the timings for this work in our next quarterly update in October.

In the meantime, organisations can prepare for the transition by ensuring that they only maintain interest in scheme members that are currently in a regulated role, or where they anticipate the individual returning to their role in the future. You can use our e-learning guide for information on how to manage scheme membership information.

There is no additional cost related to five-year membership change on 1 April 2026 or the separate renewal process. You are charged per disclosure application, not for your membership. 

Important: Keep your email up to date with us

If you have not recently applied for PVG, it is important that you tell us your current email address.

We need this so that we can contact you easily in the future to tell you when you are moving to the five-year scheme and how to create your online account.

Please email dsupdate@disclosurescotland.gov.scot with the subject header ‘Email address update,’ and tell us your:

• name
• date of birth
• PVG scheme number (if you have it)
• current email address

Organisations can help with this by encouraging their staff and volunteers to ensure that their email address with Disclosure Scotland is up to date. 

Free social care checks

A new PVG scheme fee waiver will launch on 1 August 2026. It will apply to eligible PVG scheme applications received by Disclosure Scotland between 1 August 2026 and 31 July 2027.

The fee waiver is designed to support recruitment across the social care sector. It will remove the cost of PVG scheme checks for eligible workers who are starting a new role in commissioned adult or children's social care services.

The waiver will be available to eligible managers, supervisors, practitioners and support workers in the private, voluntary and independent sectors. Eligible applicants will be able to have PVG fees, which normally range from £18 to £59, waived during the scheme period.

New: Corporate Strategy - DS30

Our new Corporate Strategy, DS30, will be published in coming weeks. Please look out for updates on our website and social media.

You can follow our social media channels for regular updates on latest publications, guidance and other corporate products.

Learning on demand

With all the recent changes, make sure you are keeping up to date with your safeguarding responsibilities. We have two pre-recorded webinars for you to watch and learn at your own pace and suit your schedule.

Application processing update

Some applications may take longer to process where external checks are required as part of our safeguarding and vetting procedures.

The time taken to receive information from partner agencies can vary, and we are unable to progress applications until all necessary information has been received. If we require any further information from you, we will contact you directly.

Disclosure Scotland’s quarter one performance round-up

We completed 152,622 applications from 1 April to 30 June 2026, with an average processing time of 3.5 days. 99.5% of applications were completed within 14 days.

From 1 April to 30 June 2026, 99.4% of applications were submitted online. Of the disclosures completed during quarter one that were eligible for sharing with an accredited body, 92.2% were shared within 14 days.

To learn more about our data and to read explanatory notes, please visit the performance page on our website. Please note, performance data is classed as management information (MI) and is used for operational purposes. The latest data extract from the live system was taken on 21 July 2026.

New: Electronic debt reminders

From the week commencing 10 August 2026, we will be introducing electronic debt reminders through our finance system. If you receive invoices by email and payment is not received within our Payment Terms and Conditions, reminder letters will be issued electronically using the E-Debt Reminder process.

As a result, debt reminders will no longer be sent by post, to customers who currently receive e-invoices. If you have any questions about this change, please contact DSFinanceOps@disclosurescotland.gov.scot.

Just as a reminder, we encourage all our customers who aren’t already using our e-invoicing service, to please contact us, so we can get this set up for you. Please contact DSFinanceOps@disclosurescotland.gov.scot.