This page of our website provides guidance in helping you understand Disclosure Scotland’s processes and provides the latest guidance received from them, together with useful links for more detailed information, we hope you find this of help.

 

Membership of the PVG scheme lasts for life unless the applicant chooses to leave the scheme.  Records need to be kept up to date, ie if and applicant moves house or changes job, also if contact details change, ie email or phone numbers, guidance is available here ‘You Should Tell Them’

Disclosure Scotland is working with PVG Scheme members (March 19) and registered organisations to review and update member details. This helps makes sure Disclosure Scotland’s data about PVG Scheme members is accurate.

They are contacting all PVG Scheme members to ask them to review their personal details and confirm that:

  • they still wish to be PVG Scheme members and their details are correct
  • they wish to be PVG Scheme members but need to update their details
  • they are no longer doing ‘regulated work’ and wish to leave the PVG Scheme
Regulated work includes many types of work with children and protected adults. If an employee is doing this type of work they should be a member of the PVG Scheme.

Employers can ask employees to complete an Existing PVG Scheme Member form. This will allow them to get an up-to-date certificate as well as be added to the employees PVG membership account. This update is known as a Short Scheme Record.  Guidance can be downloaded here Applicants guide existing scheme member application 2016

 

If an applicant tells Disclosure Scotland that they are no longer doing regulated work with an organisation, they will contact that organisation to confirm this.

The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 provides a scheme of barred lists for those individuals barred from working with children or protect adults.  Under the Act it is the duty of employers to make a referral if they dismiss or move an individual permanently from regulated work  read more ..

Some organisations can get free PVG checks for their volunteers.  The volunteers must be doing regulated work with children or protected adults.  The organisation must register as a qualifying voluntary organisation (QVO) to get free PVG checks – read more

ARC do not process checks for volunteers.

A disclosure certificate contains personal information. If you receive someone’s disclosure certificate, you need to make sure you handle it in the correct way.

You can do this by making sure it’s:

  • kept in a safe, secure place
  • only shared with people allowed to see it

Because a disclosure certificate contains someone’s private details, you can only show it to certain people and for work purposes only.

You can share the information with:

  • someone you work with who has the right to see disclosure information to do their job
  • if you signed the application for another organisation, someone within that organisation, but for work purposes only
  • a government department investigating a crime
  • a person holding statutory office – this means someone in a job that’s been set up by law, such as someone who is appointed by the Queen or a board member of a public body
  • anyone you’re required by law to share the disclosure certificate with
  • anyone who has the consent of the person named in the disclosure certificate to see the information

These duties apply to all people who see the disclosure certificate.  It is a criminal offence if you do not follow these duties.

Disclosure Scotland deal with 2 main types of issue with disclosure certificates:

  • errors like typos or getting the applicants name wrong
  • a problem with the police information, such as the applicants criminal record history

Basic errors – if there’s an error on the certificate, such as the name is wrong or there’s a typo, the applicant can contact Disclosure Scotland’s application processing department by phone: 0300 020 0040 or email: [email protected]

Problems with police information – if the police information on the disclosure certificate is wrong, the applicant should contact Disclosure Scotland to raise a dispute. The types of dispute Disclosure Scotland deal with are:  the criminal record information is wrong, it relates to someone else or the ‘other relevant information’ box on the certificate isn’t right.  Guidance on this process and how to raise a dispute is available on the mygov.scot website