Changes to Scotland’s Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme from 1 April 2025
1 April 2025
The PVG scheme (equivalent to DBS scheme) helps ensure that people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do regulated roles with them.
People who are barred from working with these groups cannot join the scheme. It is against the law for an organisation to employ someone to work with children or protected adults if they're barred from doing it.
From April 2025, it is an offense to have an individual in a regulated role with children and protected adults without PVG scheme membership. It's also illegal for the barred person to do or try to do a regulated role.
The PVG scheme does not apply to all jobs and volunteering roles. It only applies to regulated roles being conducted in Scotland. Anyone carrying out a regulated role in Scotland must have a PVG scheme membership and it is not sufficient to hold a DBS check.
There are 2 types of regulated roles – work with children and work with protected adults. Under the Disclosure Act 2020, a child is any individual under the age of 18 and a Protected Adult is any individual who is aged 18 or over and meets one of the conditions specified in the Act.
The SOA currently is only a member of the PVG scheme in respect of work with Children unless clubs inform us that they require PVG for work with Protected Adults.
SOA has been working with Scottish Club Welfare Officers, JROS and Talent Squad Managers for the past few months to ensure all those working in Scotland are fully aware of which jobs and volunteering roles fall within the definition of regulated roles. Guidance can be found on the Disclosure Scotland PVG scheme - regulated roles guidance but if in any doubt please discuss it with either your Club Welfare Officer or the SOA Lead Safeguarding Officer Nikki Howard nikki@scottish-orienteering.org
We have discussed orienteering specifically with Disclosure Scotland and Volunteer Scotland and based on traditional roles within the sport:
Roles that need a PVG
- Club Welfare Officer
- Club Coach
- Coach assistant
- Club executive committee
- SOA Board
- Drivers transporting children (unless direct agreement with parents)
- First Aid
- People supervising children on camps/ training
Again each club may do things differently so if there is any doubt please ask and we can talk through things and seek clarity where there is any doubt.
There is a grace period from 1st April to 30th June whereby people can carry out regulated roles but the PVG must have been applied for before 30th June in order for the sport not to be committing an offence by using these volunteers.
Once someone has become a PVG scheme member linked to SOA it does not matter that they change roles and a new PVG would not be required for the change in role provided they have a PVG scheme membership linked to SOA.
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