Disclosure Scotland Act (2020) - Update

12 February 2025

The changes will include the following:

• The names and categories of disclosure levels will be replaced.
• Applicants will have more control over their personal information as the process where applicant and counter signatory results are provided simultaneously is coming to an end.
• Membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme will be a legal requirement for anyone working or volunteering in a regulated role with children and/or vulnerable adults. ‘Regulated roles’ will be replacing ‘Regulated Work’,allowing new roles to be included within the PVG scheme.

From 1 July 2025, it will be an offence to carry out a regulated role if an individual is not a member of the PVG scheme. Organisations must not offer any kind of regulated role to an individual unless they have received a Level 2 with PVG disclosure. Failure to follow or comply with these legislative changes will be reported by Disclosure Scotland to the police and may result in fines and/or up to 5 years in prison.

To prepare for the upcoming changes, we advise that you ensure your data is up to date and that you have informed Disclosure Scotland of anyone that has stopped working or volunteering with your organisation.  We also recommend that you update Disclosure Scotland if any of your PVG members personal details have changed.

For further information on any of the above, please check out this article on Disclosure Scotland’s website - Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 – what do you need to know and do now? - Disclosure Scotland