The PVG Scheme assesses if an individual, working or intending to work with children and/or vulnerable adults in a ‘Regulated’ role, is suitable. Members receive a Scheme Membership Certificate and, in most circumstances, a Scheme Record listing any spent or unspent criminal convictions received to date. If the individual was barred from undertaking such work they would not be allowed to join the Scheme or, if they were barred subsequent to joining, their membership would be revoked after a period of ‘consideration’.
Eligible applicants can join the PVG Scheme directly and are provided with a Membership Statement confirming their status. This adds them to the PVG Scheme so that their details are updated with any vetting information that is added to their record. Vetting information is defined as conviction information retrieved from criminal justice systems and relevant non-conviction information held by the Police. Disclosure Scotland continue to collect vetting information after a person becomes a PVG Scheme member which ensures that new information can be acted upon promptly. In the vast majority of cases, there will be no new vetting information that is relevant to work with vulnerable groups.
If, after careful assessment a person is considered a risk and, therefore, is unsuitable to work with children and/or protected adults, Disclosure Scotland will list them on one or both of the barred lists. This means that the person will not be able to become a PVG Scheme member. It is also an offence for a barred person – and for an organisation to permit that person – to undertake regulated work.
