Following a judicial review, one part of the PVG process has been found to be in breach of European Human Rights Legislation. As a result, Scottish Government has launched an online consultation with proposed amendments.
The breach relates to the list of offences that are always going to be disclosed on an individual’s PVG. The offences listed in schedule 8A of the PVG scheme will remain unchanged, and the list continues to comprise serious offences.
The new right to apply to the sheriff for the removal of disclosure information will allow an application for removal of a spent conviction after a period of time has passed since conviction for a schedule 8A offence. This application can be made either:
- 15 years from the date of conviction, where the person was aged 18 or over at the date of conviction
- 5 years from the date of conviction, where the person was aged under 18 at the date of conviction
If no application to a sheriff is made, automatic disclosure of a spent conviction for an offence on schedule 8A will continue indefinitely.
All organisations enrolled with Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services are encouraged to read and respond to the consultation, as their opportunity to feedback into this proposed change to the PVG scheme.
The deadline for responses is Sunday 26th November.
To submit your response, or for further information, please visit Scottish Government’s consultation website.
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