Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 – accredited body fees and discounting proposals: business and regulatory impact assessment

3. Consultation

3.1 Within Government

Discussions have been on-going with colleagues across the Scottish Government in developing the proposals, including

• Third Sector Unit and Community Resilience Unit in relation to proposals around the qualifying voluntary organisation fee waiver
• Family Care and the Student Awards Agency for Scotland in relation to discounting for care-experienced young people
• colleagues working on childcare and adult social care policy on their past work around sector specific fee waivers
• Employability colleagues about discounting for people in receipt of certain benefits.

Their feedback helped shape proposals and options were added to development around care-experienced young people for specific further consultation.

Scottish Government colleagues have helped to identify further networks and organisations to consult with to maximise reach with key sectors affected by the proposals within the consultation. We continue to work across government to help to ensure that the outcomes and strategic direction of the future disclosure regime are aligned with other relevant policies across the Scottish Government.

3.2 Public Consultation

The public consultation will run for a 12 week period from February 2024. Online and in-person engagement sessions are planned for specific sectors and businesses, including volunteer involved organisations.

Informal consultation has taken place with cross-government policy colleagues and Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services. Options around the qualifying voluntary organisation waiver were streamlined and simplified following feedback in summer 2023. The public consultation will provide an opportunity for exploration of the proposal to move from the current fee waiver to a discounting model.

3.3 Business

Engagement with specific sectors and businesses on the proposals will take place during the formal public consultation period. Disclosure Scotland has identified key stakeholders with an interest in these proposals to have face-to-face or online engagement sessions with.

This will inform the Scottish Firms Impact Test below.