What do I have to do about my staff/volunteers when the PVG Scheme goes live?
When should I ask my staff/volunteers to join the PVG Scheme?
What form do I have to complete for a PVG Scheme membership application?
Can I get an enhanced disclosure for staff/volunteers in regulated work instead of joining the PVG Scheme?
I am a voluntary organisation. Can I continue to use the Central Registered Body in Scotland?
Why do people need to join the PVG Scheme if they are already registered with a regulatory body?
What do I have to do about my staff/volunteers when the PVG Scheme goes live?
You do not need to do anything about your existing employees or volunteers when the PVG Scheme goes live, whether or not they have had enhanced disclosures.
When you are asking a person to do regulated work with children and / or regulated work with protected adults for the first time (whether an existing or new member of staff), or recruiting someone to a post within regulated work, you should ask them to join the PVG Scheme. This is very similar to the decision you would make at the moment about whether you need to ask for enhanced disclosure. Disclosure Scotland will be communicating with all registered bodies in the period prior to go-live and will ensure that supplies of application forms and guidance notes are available in time to allow this.
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When should I ask my staff/volunteers to join the PVG Scheme?
When you ask a person to do regulated work with children and / or regulated work with adults for you for the first time (whether an existing or new member of staff).
You can also ask existing staff to join the PVG Scheme as part of a continuation of an existing practice of re-checking employees or volunteers from time to time. Other than that, you should not ask existing staff to join the PVG Scheme, without having agreed the volumes and timescales with Disclosure Scotland
Disclosure Scotland has already started consulting registered bodies on the process of phasing the existing workforce into PVG Scheme membership. Further consultation is planned on this process and it is important that it is planned carefully to avoid overloading Disclosure Scotland and so causing delays.
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What form do I have to complete for a PVG Scheme membership application?
For a position involving regulated work with children and / or adults, you will need to use a new PVG Scheme application form. This form will look similar to the enhanced disclosure application form. There is a sample of the application form on the Disclosure Scotland website. Disclosure Scotland will be communicating with all registered bodies in the run up to go-live and will provide copies of the application forms and guidance notes ahead of go-live.
The positions which are eligible for PVG Scheme membership are not quite the same as those eligible for enhanced disclosure and you should check that your disclosure application relates to regulated work with children and / or adults. Here is a link to the PVG Scheme legislation and Executive Notes. Here is a link to the guidance on the Disclosure Scotland website.
If the position is not eligible for PVG Scheme membership, you could ask for a basic disclosure and, in some cases prescribed by law, standard disclosure may be available.
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Can I get an enhanced disclosure for staff/volunteers in regulated work instead of joining the PVG Scheme?
No. Enhanced disclosure will not be available to people who are working with vulnerable groups because the PVG Scheme Record is available instead.
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I am a voluntary organisation. Can I continue to use the Central Registered Body in Scotland?
Yes. The Central Registered Body in Scotland will continue to support you in respect of making applications for PVG Scheme membership, in much the same way as they do with enhanced disclosure.
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Why do people need to join the PVG Scheme if they are already registered with a regulatory body?
The PVG Scheme serves a different purpose to regulatory bodies. The role of regulatory bodies includes improving practice standards, providing guidance and training, upholding the values of the profession and regulating the relevant workforce. The purpose of the PVG Scheme is to prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups. It is entirely possible that a person may be a PVG Scheme member, but not be suitable to register with a regulatory body because, for example, they have been de-registered for professional incompetence.
More importantly, a person who has been de-registered as a teacher by the General Teaching Council for Scotland, for example, having harmed a student would be able to go and work with children in another capacity. The PVG Scheme ensures that they would not be able to work with children in any capacity.
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