With effect from 1 April 2026 the new five-year membership period for the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme will come into effect. The new membership model replaces lifetime membership for PVG scheme members.
The way the PVG scheme is changing shouldn’t affect the way that you apply for the PVG checks for your employees – you don’t need to reapply unless it is something that you would have been doing anyway as part of your HR processes.
Everyone already on the scheme will be moved onto the 5 years scheme in batches, in order of the date they joined, but this work is not happening immediately. They will be notified by Disclosure Scotland by email.
Keeping PVG records up to date
What is important is for all of your employees to ensure that they keep their PVG Scheme record up to date. If their name or address is incorrect, they can use the form on this link to email Disclosure Scotland: https://www.mygov.scot/change-pvg-member-details-form
Also, if you have employees who were on the scheme prior to 2021 when the system went online, or think they may have a work email address recorded for them, they will need to tell Disclosure Scotland their current email address as below:
Please email dsupdate@disclosurescotland.gov.scot with the subject header ‘Email address update,’ and tell them:
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full name
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date of birth
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PVG Scheme number
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current email address
There is a ‘PVG changes questions’ webpage that you might also wish to share with your employees: https://www.disclosure.gov.scot/news/2026/03/pvg-changes-questions
Also, please do let us know at ARC Disclosure Service when you no longer have an interest in a PVG member so that we can advise Disclosure Scotland.
Level of check
Deciding on the correct level of disclosure is important and to assist organisations making the decision, Disclosure Scotland provide comprehensive guidance on their website, including our ‘regulated roles tool’, sector specific guidance and pre-recorded webinars, to support your decision-making.
You can also access free regulated roles training – upcoming dates are listed on their events page.
These resources should help you to decide if the role carried out requires PVG scheme membership or not. PVG scheme disclosures must only be used for roles that fit the legislative criteria.