Get Ready for the Disclosure Act - Week one recap

This week, Disclosure Scotland launched its Get Ready for the Disclosure Act campaign on social media. This no cost campaign aims to inform and educate our stakeholders and customers about the changes that the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 will make to the disclosure system in Scotland.

Week one focused on introducing you to the Disclosure Act and provided reminders of changes which we have already announced, read more about what was covered in this recap.

What is the Disclosure Act?

The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 or Disclosure Act is a piece of legislation which aims to focus on protecting the public, while balancing the need for people to move on from offending and simplify the process for disclosing criminal history information.

Most of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 (Disclosure Act) will be implemented on 1 April 2025.

What changes on 1 April 2025 for people and organisations in Scotland?

From the 1 of April 2025, membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups or PVG scheme will become a legal requirement for those individuals carrying out a regulated role with children and protected adults.

From the 1 of April 2025, it is a legal requirement for organisations to ensure that the individual who is to carry out a regulated role is a member of the PVG scheme.

What other changes does the Disclosure Act bring?

In addition to the PVG scheme becoming a legal requirement, the Disclosure Act brings the following changes:

• simplified disclosure products with new product names
• people are given more control over their information
• a case-by-case approach to the disclosure of childhood offending
• rights of review for convictions disclosed in a disclosure result, to enhance fairness and proportionality

We have prepared a video which summarises these changes.

New disclosure levels from 1 April 2025

From the 1 of April 2025, the names of our disclosure levels will change. Make sure you are aware of these changes to ensure you are applying for the right disclosure level for your needs.

Currently, we have four disclosure levels:

• basic
• standard
• enhanced
• Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme

From the 1 of April 2025, disclosure levels change to:

• Level 1
• Level 2
• Level 2 with barred list check
• PVG scheme

To find out more about the new disclosure levels, visit the new disclosure levels page on our website, or watch this video.

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