As of April 1, 2025, significant changes to Scotland’s Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme
have been implemented under the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020.
Read on to find out about the changes and ensure your organisation is up to date.
Mandatory PVG Scheme Membership
- The term “regulated work” has been updated to “regulated roles,” expanding the scope to include various new job roles
- It is now a specific offence for individuals to work in regulated roles involving children or protected adults without membership of the PVG scheme, and it will be a specific offence for organisations to offer any type of regulated role to an individual unless they have received a Level 2 with PVG disclosure. This includes volunteers as well as paid employees engaged in a regulated role
- A three-month grace period is in place until 1st July 2025, allowing individuals and organisations time to comply without facing legal penalties
Changes to Disclosure Levels in Scotland
- Disclosure levels have been restructured:
- Level 1 replaces the basic disclosure, showing unspent convictions.
- Level 2 replaces most standard disclosures, displaying unspent and certain spent convictions, as well as relevant police information.
- Level 2 with barred list check replaces most enhanced disclosures, indicating if an individual is barred from working with children or protected adults.
Online Application and Result Viewing
- Disclosure Scotland has launched an online account service, enabling PVG members to apply for disclosures and view results digitally. Applicants and counter signatories must set up an online account and verify their identity through ScotAccount.
Fee Structure
- The Scottish Government continues to waive PVG scheme membership fees for volunteers in qualifying voluntary organizations.
- Fees for other disclosure products remain unchanged since 2011. For instance, Level 1 Disclosures £25, joining the PVG scheme costs £59, while existing members renewing their scheme record for the same type of role pay £18.
More details can be found on the Disclosure Scotland Website, where you can also find a number of free online training webinars.
Important to note
If your organisation is based in England but working in regulated roles in schools or with vulnerable groups in Scotland you must be a PVG scheme member. If you are based in Scotland but working in regulated activities with children in England or Wales you must have DBS checks at the required level. DBS/PVG checks have never been interchangeable across the borders.
