Update on the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme in Scotland
April 6th, 2016 by Jonathan Bazely
The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme in Scotland
Due Diligence Checking limited were recently visited by the team at Disclosure Scotland for an informal audit of the processes we employ, and information that we provide to clients and applicants. As part of this audit Disclosure Scotland asked us to encourage employers to let Disclosure Scotland know (via ourselves) if they are no longer employing individuals for whom they requested a PVG Update or PVG Scheme Record.
When requesting a PVG check the employer is ‘registering an interest’ in an individual. This ensures that Disclosure Scotland inform the employer if there is any ‘consideration for barring’ relating to the individual. Employers must let Disclosure Scotland know if they are no longer employing or endorsing an individual so that they do not receive such information. At current Disclosure Scotland have approximately 917,000 members of the PVG Scheme.
Removing a Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Application from the DDC system
The DDC systems have an in-built facility to ‘resign’ an applicant. This can be done through the Client Area ‘Manage Applications’ section, by selecting the tick-box on the left hand side of the list and using the drop-down menu in the bottom left. If you’re not sure how to do this then please contact one of the team at DDC for help. DDC will then liaise with Disclosure Scotland to pass on this information.
Why do I need to remove my ‘interest’ in applicants?
Once an employee has left an organisation, that organisation has no right to review their criminal information or be updated if that individual becomes ‘considered for barring’. If they receive such information or take action upon it they would be in breach of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and subsequent revisions.
What if I want to know about my former employees?
Unfortunately this would be in breach of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and subsequent revisions. If an employer has removed an individual from Regulated Activity, or have other concerns over child or vulnerable adult safety please see our guidance on statutory incident reporting. The link to the Disclosure Scotland website can be found at the bottom of this page.
