Disclosure Scotland PVG Changes

Important Information for ILF Scotland Recipients who employ Personal Assistants (PAs).

The PVG Scheme is Changing and this will affect your PAs

What is the PVG Scheme?

PVG stands for ‘Protecting Vulnerable Groups’. The PVG Scheme, introduced in 2011, aims to help make sure that people who are deemed unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do so.

The PVG Scheme is for those in “regulated roles”. A Personal Assistant (PA) is considered to be a regulated role.

Disclosure Scotland carry out a background check to vet information including whether someone has previous convictions that may mean they are unsuitable to work with vulnerable groups.

Changes to Legislation

From 1 April 2025, changes to the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 mean that people working in a regulated role must register to become a member of the PVG scheme.

It will be a legal requirement for any PAs who support you to join the PVG scheme and it will be a criminal offence for the PA to work in a regulated role if they do not have a PVG membership. This includes both employed and self-employed PAs.

The employer cannot be held accountable if the PA does not join the PVG Scheme. However, you should be aware of the need to make sure your PA is aware of this new legal requirement.

Exceptions to mandatory membership.

Your PA does not need to join the PVG Scheme if:

• They have a personal relationship with you and do not get paid to support you.

• They are living with you as a “family member”, defined as “a relationship between two people who live in the same household and treat each other as though they were members of the same family”

How does your PA join the PVG Scheme?

To apply for the PVG Scheme, PAs should use the Disclosure Scotland website or go directly to Self-employed or work for a personal employer.

PAs are being encouraged to apply now, ahead of the change in legislation in April 2025, to avoid backlogs at that time.

Your PA can join the PVG Scheme without any involvement from you or they can ask you to countersign their application. If you countersign the application, you will will receive a copy of the results of the disclosure check. Otherwise, you should ask you PA to share the results of the application with you.

Where your PA is already a member of the PVG Scheme

If your PA is already a PVG Scheme member and has a disclosure certificate covering them to work for you, they don’t need to do anything.

If they are a member of the PVG Scheme but in respect of a different employer, you should ask them for a ’Scheme Membership Statement’. They can apply for this through the Disclosure Scotland website.

Disclosure Results

There are three potential outcomes to a PVG disclosure –

• The PA is now a member of the PVG Scheme.
• The PA is on the “barred list” meaning they have been deemed unsuitable for working with children and / or vulnerable adults and should not continue in their role. Please note that you will not receive details of any criminal convictions.
• The PA is a PVG member but is “under consideration for listing”. 

This means that the PA is a PVG member, but there is information available to Disclosure Scotland that requires further investigation, and this may or may not lead to a barred status. This does not prevent the PA from continuing in their role. An investigation can take some time to conclude. Your PA will be notified in writing of the outcome, which you should ask to see.  

Applications and Cost

The cost of PVG application is £59 for a new applicant, and £18 for a Scheme Membership Statement. The new law does not state who is responsible for paying for the application, so it could be the PA or the employer.

If you use your ILF Scotland award to fully or partially fund your PA, you can use money in your ILF account to pay the fee for your PA’s PVG application or Membership Statement. If you do not have enough funds in the account, please contact us on 0300 200 2022 or by emailing enquiries@ilf.scot to arrange a one-off payment to cover this.

If your PA is wholly funded through a direct payment by the local authority, the cost of the PVG application should be met by the local authority.  

Guidance from Disclosure Scotland implies that the turnaround time for applications is 14 days.

How long does PVG Membership last?

PVG Scheme membership will last for five years. Disclosure Scotland has not yet published details of how to reapply for full membership. We will provide you with an update once we have this information.

Other sources of information you may find helpful

SDS Scotland issued information for both PAs and Employers

Upcoming changes to PVG for Personal Assistants - what you need to know - Self Directed Support Scotland (sdsscotland.org.uk)

For PAs: Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG): For PAs - The SDS Handbook

For employers: Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG): For PA Employers - The SDS Handbook