Disclosure Scotland updates from 1 April

The following changes came into effect from Tuesday 1 April:

1. The PVG scheme became mandatory in law for all those carrying out a regulated role with Children or Protected Adults. Currently it is a mandatory requirement by the Care Inspectorate. No person will be permitted to carry out regulated work with East Lothian Council if they do not have a disclosure check for the regulated role they are carrying out.

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2. Disclosure levels changed from previous four levels of disclosure: basic, standard, enhanced and PVG disclosures (for members of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme) to:
   • Level 1 (Any role) - replaces basic disclosure.
   • Level 2 (Specific “exempted” roles”) - replaces standard and enhanced disclosure.
   • Level 2 PVG Scheme (Regulated roles) – replaces PVG disclosure

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   All applicants are now required to view their PVG Disclosure online and then authorise the Disclosure Information to be provided to the council. The applicant must then select the option to release their information within 14 days (tbc). After 14 days the Disclosure Information is withdrawn, and the applicant will need to reapply. Applicants who apply via the non-digital route will be posted their information and they will need to contact Disclosure Scotland to either appeal or release their Disclosure Information to the Council. It is important that managers and applicants are aware of this change to prevent any delay in the process.

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4. After viewing their Disclosure Information, applicants can apply to the new Independent Reviewer for convictions and/or other information to be removed before the Disclosure Information is provided to the Council. If the applicant decides to appeal, the Disclosure Information will NOT be released. The time frame for the appeals process is not known.

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5. The minimum age for applying for a PVG Scheme membership is now set at 16 years old. Under 16s will not be eligible to apply for a PVG, however they will need to apply for a PVG Scheme Membership when they turn 16.

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   Regulated Work has been replaced by Regulated Roles. This is likely to include additional roles in places of work where Protected Adults and Children are. Many of these roles were previously considered incidental and did not require a check.  

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   A Protected Adult has changed from being over age 16 to being over 18 years. Under 18s will be considered as Children. An employee who has a PVG scheme membership for one type of regulated role (such as adults) cannot carry out the other type of regulated role (such as under 18s) without first obtaining a scheme update for that role. An employee who works with Children (Under 18s) and Protected Adults (Over 18s) will need a PVG scheme membership for working with both groups. 

Information on the intranet is being updated from 1 April to reflect the new process. HR will be reaching out to teams where some of these changes may affect a team member’s PVG requirements.

This is part of a roll-out of the provisions of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 with some changes already in place and more to follow later this year.