Disclosure Scotland update: what’s changing

Disclosure Scotland helps employers make safer decisions when they’re recruiting people. It also makes sure unsuitable people do not work with children and vulnerable adults.

The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020, which will come into force next year, aims to make the disclosure process in Scotland simpler and easier to understand.

It will focus on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, while ensuring people with convictions can move on and contribute to society.

Key changes coming next year will be:

• the PVG scheme will become mandatory for those carrying out regulated roles with children and protected adults. This will include Personal Assistants.

However, the exceptions to this requirement will continue as they are currently.

This means that a supported person, or someone acting on their behalf, cannot use the PVG Scheme where the person providing care is:

• a family member who lives with the supported person, or who lives with the supported person as if they were a member of the same family
• someone with a personal relationship with the supported person and where there is no commercial consideration involved.

Further changes include:

• the lifetime PVG scheme membership will end and be replaced with a five-year membership
• the number of disclosure levels will be reduced
• individuals can request a review of certain disclosure content from an independent reviewer
• those with childhood convictions eligible for review can explain the context of their previous behaviour before any disclosure to a third party