Scottish Government

How does the PVG Scheme improve on the current disclosure system for people who work with vulnerable groups?

What types of disclosure services will the PVG Scheme offer and what are the fees for each?

Who will get to see PVG Scheme Records?

What sort of information will the PVG Scheme hold about people and where will information come from?

What measures are being delivered to ensure data about individuals is protected?

Why should an employer trust a PVG Scheme Record given to them by a potential employee?

Is the PVG Scheme compulsory?

Who will pay the fees?

How does the PVG Scheme improve on the current disclosure system for people who work with vulnerable groups?

The PVG Scheme offers the following improvements over the current system.

Continuous updating

Continuing to collect vetting information about an individual after the initial disclosure check has been made will ensure that new information indicating that they might have become unsuitable can be acted upon promptly. Vetting information is conviction information retrieved from criminal justice systems and other information held by the police that they consider relevant to the type of work.

Since Disclosure Scotland was established in 2002, a great deal has been learned about what works well and what could work better. The current enhanced disclosure provides a point in time snapshot of an individual's criminal history. For this reason, many employers choose to re-check employees/volunteers on a regular basis. Also if a person has more than one job (either paid or unpaid) they may be asked to complete a disclosure application for each post. This is very time consuming, frustrating and inefficient.

The PVG Act establishes a membership scheme for people undertaking regulated work with children and/or protected adults to join. The existing enhanced disclosure will no longer be available for people undertaking regulated work with children and protected adults. The new scheme will have a memory and individual records held by the PVG Scheme will be updated automatically if new vetting information becomes known or when a person's circumstances change. This means that when a disclosure is required because the PVG Scheme member is changing posts or taking on an additional role it will be quick and easy for prospective employers to check whether he/she is a member of the PVG Scheme, whether there is any vetting information held about them and whether any vetting information has been added to or removed from the record since the last PVG Scheme Record was disclosed.

Strengthened protection for adults

The Bichard Inquiry in 2004 recommended that new registration arrangements should be introduced for those working with vulnerable adults as well as with children. The PVG Act delivers the power to create, for the first time in Scotland, a list of those who are barred from working with protected adults.

Effective barring

The PVG Scheme won't just collect and disclose vetting information. It will also assess it, so that individuals who are considered unsuitable on the basis of vetting information are prevented from entering the workforce, or can quickly be removed from the workforce if new information arises which makes then unsuitable.

Under the PVG Scheme, the new adults' list and the list of those who are barred from working with children will be managed by Disclosure Scotland. Disclosure Scotland, as an executive agency of the Scottish Government, will deliver current disclosure services, the new PVG Scheme membership service and the barring function. A new team within Disclosure Scotland - the Protection Unit - will collect and assess information to enable fair and consistent decisions about unsuitability to be made, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, in respect of one or both workforces.

Under current arrangements, an enhanced disclosure for work with children or adults at risk reveals an individual's convictions and other relevant information from the police (vetting information). It also reveals whether the individual is disqualified from working with children in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland or on the list of those disqualified from working with vulnerable adults in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, where that is relevant to the post. However, no assessment is made of the convictions and police information to see whether this indicates that the individual is unsuitable to do that type of work. If the disclosure reveals that the individual is already disqualified from working with children, then it is an offence to employ them in that work. However, even if the disclosure reveals they are barred from working with vulnerable adults (elsewhere in the UK), it is not currently an offence to employ them in such work. As individuals can only be barred if referred by an employer or a court under current rules, this means that the assessment of any vetting information disclosed is left entirely to the employer.

Under the PVG Scheme broadly the same conviction and police information will appear on a PVG Scheme Record Disclosure (as appears on an enhanced disclosure certificate under the current system). When someone seeks to join the PVG Scheme, any vetting information identified will be assessed by the Protection Unit at Disclosure Scotland. If this is deemed to make them unsuitable for the type of regulated work applied for, they will be barred. If they are not unsuitable, they will become a PVG Scheme member.

If the individual is already barred from working with children or/and adults, they will not be eligible to join the PVG Scheme. The individual will commit an offence by seeking to undertake a post in regulated work while barred and any employer would also be committing an offence by offering them such work.

Once someone becomes a PVG Scheme member any new vetting information will be added to their membership record and assessed by the Protection Unit at Disclosure Scotland, on behalf of Scottish Ministers. If an individual becomes unsuitable while a PVG Scheme member, they will be removed from the scheme and listed on one or both lists. Any employers known by Disclosure Scotland to have an interest in the individual will be notified when the individual is placed under consideration for listing and again when the outcome of that consideration is confirmed. If the individual is listed, it will be an offence for them to continue to be employed in that type of regulated work and their employer will need to remove them.

A PVG Scheme Record disclosure will give employers the reassurance that the individual is not unsuitable for that type of work, even if the disclosure contains convictions and other police information. It will also ensure that they are notified if the individual's status changes and they become unsuitable.

However, employers will still need to assess the information to see whether the individual is suitable for the particular post for which they have applied.

Information on safe recruitment practice is available at:

Safer Recruitment Through Better Recruitment Guidance

Safer Pre and Post Employment Checks - NHS Scotland

Disclosure Scotland

CRBS website

Apex Scotland website

Safer Recruitment for Safer Services - A report in the quality of recruitment practices in registered care services - Care Commission, November 2008

Streamlined disclosures

Recognising that some people have several roles and that many people move and change jobs of over time, the PVG Scheme removes the need for people to complete multiple written disclosure applications. When a new employer needs to confirm that a job applicant is a PVG Scheme member, they will be able to apply for a PVG Scheme Record Update. This will be quicker, simpler and cheaper for prospective employers and scheme members.

The application process is simpler as the individual is already known to Disclosure Scotland. The response is quicker, because the information is already on the person's PVG Scheme Record and the cost of PVG Scheme Record Update will be £18 as opposed to £59 which is the cost for a full PVG Scheme Record.

The PVG Scheme Record Update will confirm that the person is a PVG Scheme member in relation to the relevant workforce, whether there is any vetting information held on their record and whether anything has been added or removed since the date when the last PVG Scheme Record was issued. Over 90 per cent of PVG Scheme members will have no information on their record, making this the disclosure of choice for existing scheme members. From 2011 it will be possible for employers to view scheme record updates on line in real time.

Access to disclosure for personal employers

A new PVG Scheme Membership Statement will improve protection for vulnerable groups in instances where people are directly employed to do regulated work. Personal employers, such as a parent employing a sports coach for their child or a person employing a personal carer can ask to see a PVG Scheme Membership Statement to confirm that the person is not barred.

The PVG Scheme information booklet provides a summary of how the PVG Scheme will work and is available online and in hard copy format. It is also translated into British Sign Language and into four ethnic minority languages.

Guidance and training materials are on the Disclosure Scotland website.

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What types of disclosure services will the PVG Scheme offer and what are the fees for each?

The PVG Scheme introduces three different types of disclosures that are tailor made to suit different needs and to make the disclosure process for people who work with vulnerable groups as quick, efficient and, in the longer term, cheap as possible.

The following aims to explain the purpose and benefits of each disclosure type and there is a quick guide at the end of this section.

1. PVG Scheme Record - £59

A PVG Scheme Record will be requested by an employer who is employing an individual to do regulated work when the individual is joining the PVG Scheme for the first time.

In addition, an employer will also be able to request a PVG Scheme Record when a PVG Scheme Record Update (see below) highlights that new vetting information about an individual has become available or if they think it is necessary to see the full content of the individual's PVG Scheme Record.

A PVG Scheme Record will:

· confirm that the person is a PVG Scheme member in respect of the type of regulated work they are applying to do: either working with children; working with protected adults; or both and so are not barred from that type of regulated work;

· include all vetting information (which is criminal history information and information that the police consider relevant to the type of regulated work);

· indicate whether the person is under consideration for listing.

A PVG Scheme Record will be sent to both the individual and the employer and when relevant, to a regulatory body that the individual is registered with.

2. PVG Scheme Record Update - £18

A PVG Scheme Record Update will be requested by an employer who is recruiting an existing PVG Scheme member for the first time or as part of a regular review of existing employees. The application form for any type of disclosure for existing PVG Scheme members will be shorter and simpler because all of the information provided when the original application for PVG Scheme membership was made will still be held by Disclosure Scotland.

This will remove the need for people who have already become PVG Scheme members to complete a detailed application form every time a disclosure check is required, saving time and resources.

The PVG Scheme Record Update will:

· confirm that the person is a PVG Scheme member in respect of the type of regulated work they are applying to do: either working with children; working with protected adults; or both and so are not barred from that type of regulated work;

· specify the date of disclosure of the last PVG Scheme Record;

· state whether any existing vetting information was included in the member's scheme record on the date it was last issued;

· indicate whether any new vetting information has been added to the member's scheme record and the date each item was added (without detailing the substance of any such vetting information);

· indicate whether any vetting information has been removed and the date it was removed (without detailing the substance of any such vetting information). For example, this may happen if a conviction is weeded from police information systems after a period of time has passed, meaning that it can no longer be disclosed;

· indicate whether the person is under consideration for listing.

The purpose of the PVG Scheme Record Update is to enable employers to quickly, easily and cheaply check that employees or potential employees are PVG Scheme members and therefore not barred from working with vulnerable groups.

Over 90 per cent of enhanced disclosures currently show no vetting information. This means that there will be no vetting information on the vast majority of PVG Scheme Records. This in turn means that there will no need for employers to request a full PVG Scheme Record when, for a fraction of the cost, a PVG Scheme Record Update will provide them with the same information.

In the minority of instances where the PVG Scheme Record Update shows that there is new vetting information, the employer will be able to request the PVG Scheme Record. This will enable them to see the detail of the vetting information and consider whether it is relevant to the post. The total cost of a PVG Scheme Record Update, followed within 30 days by a PVG Scheme Record will add up to the same as the cost of the PVG Scheme Record (£59).

A PVG Scheme Record Update will be sent to both the individual and the employer.

3. PVG Scheme Membership Statement - £59 to join the PVG Scheme and £18 for subsequent updates

A PVG Scheme Membership Statement will be available to people in anticipation of taking up regulated work, either on a unilateral basis, on a self-employed basis or if an individual is working for a personal employer who wishes to confirm that the individual is a PVG Scheme member.

The PVG Scheme Membership Statement will:

· confirm that the person is a PVG Scheme member in respect of the type of regulated work they are applying to do: either working with children; working with protected adults; or both and so are not barred from that type of regulated work;

· indicate whether the individual is under consideration for listing.

A PVG Scheme Membership Statement, for example, could be requested by a personal employer such as a parent wishing to employ a sports coach for their child or a person with disabilities wishing to employ a personal carer.

A PVG Scheme Membership Statement can be provided either when the person first joins the scheme or when requested by any personal employer.

The PVG Scheme Membership Statement will be provided to the individual and to the personal employer where one is identified.

Registering an interest in an individual PVG Scheme member

By applying for a PVG Scheme Record or a PVG Scheme Record Update, an employer will register with Disclosure Scotland that they have an interest in that scheme Member. That means that if the person is ever placed under consideration for listing, Disclosure Scotland can notify those employers with an interest. Similarly, if, as a result of that consideration, the scheme member is listed, all interested parties will be notified.

Applying for a PVG Scheme Record or PVG Scheme Record Update are the only ways that an employer can register an interest in a scheme member and so benefit from the continuous updating of scheme records which is one of the core benefits of the scheme.

It is not possible for a personal employer to register an interest in an individual in the same way, as it is not an offence for a personal employer to employ a barred person. However, if Disclosure Scotland know that a newly barred individual has previously applied for a PVG Scheme Membership Statement to work for a personal employer, they can notify the police, who will be able to follow up to confirm that the personal employer is aware of any risk.

QUICK GUIDE TO DISCLOSURE TYPES

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Who will get to see PVG Scheme Records?

A PVG Scheme Record is available to the person it concerns and the employer or potential employer. Where relevant, duplicate copies can be provided to regulatory bodies, cutting down on duplication for those roles where an individual needs to provide evidence of PVG Scheme membership to both employer and regulatory body.

It is an offence for an employer to share disclosures with a third party. The only exception to this is where local authorities or heath boards are contracting with a third party to provide transport services to children and/or protected adults. In this circumstance, the contractor can request sight of the PVG Scheme membership information to assure themselves that the contractor is not employing people who are unsuitable.

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What sort of information will the PVG Scheme hold about people and where will information come from?

The information held by the PVG Scheme falls into two categories.

The first is known collectively as vetting information, which is conviction information retrieved from criminal justice systems and other information held by the police that they consider to be relevant to regulated work. In addition, Scottish Ministers have prescribed four civil orders: a sexual offences prevention order (or interim order); a risk of sexual harm order (or interim order); a notification order (or interim order) and a foreign travel order as vetting information for the PVG Scheme.

The second category is information received in competent referrals from employers and any subsequent investigations that follow from them.

Vetting information will always appear in full on the individual's PVG Scheme Record disclosures. Referral information will not be disclosed, but, even if the referral did not lead to the individual being listed, the information will be held by the Protection Unit at Disclosure Scotland and can be used alongside vetting information in any future consideration for listing.

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What measures are being delivered to ensure data about individuals is protected?

Disclosure Scotland already adheres to strict information security protocols set by CESG, HM Government's National Technical Authority for Information Assurance.

None of the information that Disclosure Scotland holds can be stored or transmitted by CD, memory stick or any removable storage device and no information can ever be transferred to, or held on, a laptop. Information is always handled within a secure environment and transferred between areas by secure electronic links.

The security of the PVG Scheme system is being designed in from the very beginning. It will be subject to regular IT CHECK testing (as prescribed by CESG).

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Why should an employer trust a PVG Scheme Record given to them by a potential employee?

The PVG Scheme has been set up in such a way that employers can ask an individual to provide their PVG Scheme Record which can be viewed alongside a PVG Scheme Record Update - which will highlight whether any new vetting information has been added to the individual's PVG Scheme Record since it was last disclosed. To make sure they can do this safely, there are a number of security features.

First of all, there are a number of anti-fraud measures built into the PVG Scheme Record, just as with enhanced disclosure now. These measures make it extremely difficult for someone to copy, reproduce or alter a scheme record.

Secondly, the details on the PVG Scheme Record and the PVG Scheme Record Update will match. Information on the PVG Scheme Record Update which will corroborate the PVG Scheme Record includes:

· the date of issue of the PVG Scheme Record;

· the disclosure number of the PVG Scheme Record;

· the name, address and date of birth of the individual and their PVG Scheme membership number; and

· a statement on the number of items of information included on the PVG Scheme Record.

If any of these did not match, then employers would be advised to request a full PVG Scheme Record. If they do match, then they can have confidence that the PVG Scheme Record is authentic.

When recruiting, employers should still ask to see documentation which helps confirm the identity of the individual, for example passports or driving licences with photos and follow safe recruitment procedures.

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Is the PVG Scheme compulsory?

No. The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 creates two main offences. One for organisations who employ a person who is on the barred list for the type of regulated work they are doing and one for barred individuals who put themselves forward for regulated work while barred. This means that it will be an offence for a barred person - and for an organisation to permit that person - to undertake work with children or protected adults if they are barred from that type of regulated work.

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Who will pay the fees?

The PVG Act legislates that the correct fee is paid by somebody but it does not legislate who should pay. It will be for each organisation to decide who should pay. In most instances, under the current arrangements, employers pay for the cost of disclosures.

Applications for volunteers working in the qualifying voluntary sector will continue to be handled the Central Registered Body in Scotland free of charge. For the PVG Scheme, a "qualifying voluntary organisation" is an organisation which-

• is not a further education institution, a school, a public or local authority, or which is not under the management of a public or local authority; and
• is not conducted primarily for profit, and any profit generated is used to further the objectives of the organisation and not distributed to its members.

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