The Scottish Government

The Scottish Government's consultation on the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (PVG Act) policy proposals for secondary legislation required to implement the vetting and barring scheme closed on 12 February 2008. A full analysis of the consultation responses will be available later this year.

A date for the vetting and barring scheme to go live is still to be determined and the Scottish Government will announce the date well in advance to allow stakeholders adequate time to prepare.

In the meantime, implementation plans are continuing, in partnership with a range of groups and organisations. This work includes planning and developing a comprehensive package of guidance and training which will be available in the run up to go live.

If you have a question about the current disclosure system, please visit Disclosure Scotland.

1. How does the Protection of vulnerable groups scheme differ from the current disclosure system?

2. Who will get to see individual scheme record disclosures?

3. What is the point of the short scheme record disclosures?

4. How will a protected adult be defined?

5. Will everyone who comes into contact with a child or a protected adult through the workplace need to be a scheme member?

6. Does the PVG scheme apply to parent councils, PTA members and evening class teachers using school premises?

7. The PVG Act defines a child as an individual under the age of 18 and protected adult as an individual aged 16 or over. Does this mean that a person who is aged 16 or 17 and in receipt of services is a child or a protected adult?

8. Will the scheme check foreign workers who wish to work with children or protected adults?

9. What will be the process for checking that those who countersign checks are suitable to take on this role?

10. How will the scheme work and interact with other parts of the UK?

11. Why two lists - one for those who are barred from working with children and one for those who are barred from working with protected adults?

12. What sort of information will the scheme hold about people and where will information come from?

13. Will employers become overly risk averse? for example, what would happen if someone has a driving conviction on their scheme record?

14. Who will make barring decisions, what will be the process, will decisions be fair and will information be handled sensitively?

15. Are there certain offences and convictions that will lead to people being barred automatically?

16. Will there be a right of appeal for someone who is deemed unsuitable?

17. Who will pay for disclosure checks?

18. Will the scheme put people off volunteering if they have not had to undertake disclosure checks before?

19. How much will it cost to join the scheme?

20. Will there be financial support to organisations to enable them to plan and prepare for the scheme going live?

21. When will guidance and training on the new scheme be available and will there be a helpline facility?

22. There may be a decrease in enhanced disclosure checking in the run up to the go live date as people won't want to pay the fee twice. What transitional arrangements are being made while the scheme goes live to avoid this?