The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020

At the beginning of April this year, changes to the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 came into effect. These changes have practical implications for organisations which carry out services with children or protected adults, which they should be aware of.

In short, the new legislation means that it is now a legal requirement for individuals to be a member of the Protected Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme whilst carrying out a regulated role with children or protected adults. The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 replaces the concept of ‘regulated work’ with ‘regulated roles’. Those individuals that have a ‘regulated role’ within an organisation will now need to be a member of the PVG scheme if they are working with vulnerable adults and/or children. This replaces and expands on the previous definition of regulated work.

The changes are relevant to those who are based in Scotland doing a regulated role, those who will be doing a regulated role whilst in Scotland, and those who were recruited in Scotland to do a regulated role elsewhere.

So what is a regulated role? The definition set out in the legislation is contained in a series of detailed Schedules, requiring the reader to consider a number of conditions before coming to a conclusion. This appears to be deliberate to allow an open ended approach to the roles, as they are likely to change. Examples include teachers, social workers, and sport coaches.

The Scottish Government have provided a list of regulated roles (which can be found here - https://www.mygov.scot/list-of-regulated-roles) to assist organisations in identifying roles or persons who fall under this category. The list is not exhaustive, however, so consideration should be made in each case as to whether your organisation is included in the new rules.

Disclosure Scotland also provides guidance through their PVG scheme: Regulated Roles guidance (https://www.mygov.scot/pvg-scheme-regulated-roles-guidance). For charity trustees, this makes it clear that the legislation intends to include individuals who are trustees of a children’s charity or for organisations whose main purpose is to benefit protected adults. Therefore, even if you are not actively involved in providing the services of the charity, but are a trustee, you must register with the PVG scheme if your charity falls into the relevant definition.

Penalties for non-compliance include fines, imprisonment up to five years or both. A three-month grace period has been introduced which extends from 1st April 2025 to 1st July 2025 to allow individuals to continue working while their PVG application is being processed.

Consideration should be given now as to whether your organisation is affected by these changes. If you think you may be affected by these rules, or would like further information, please contact a member of our charity law team for further advice.