Protection of vulnerable groups and disclosure of information: engagement report

Introduction

The PVG Review was announced at the Disclosure Scotland stakeholder conference in November 2016 by Deputy First Minister John Swinney. Since this announcement we have been engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to gain insight into how they feel about the current PVG Scheme and disclosure products and what they would like to see in Scotland’s future disclosure and barring arrangements.

The strategy of the review was designed so that it was as collaborative as possible, involving both internal and external stakeholders, and that it would be done in distinct phases with analysis completed at the end of each round with feedback to stakeholders.

Methodology

To date, three rounds of engagement have been conducted for the review. In order to ensure a high level of stakeholder engagement, a number of methods have been used throughout the process. These have included:

• Individual interviews
• Group participation sessions
• Telephone interviews
• Online survey
• Stakeholder conference

Feedback was collated, recorded and analysed after each round of engagement.

Participants

A wide range of participants have taken part in the review. To date, we have engaged in person with over 350 organisational representatives and individuals throughout Scotland and have feedback from many more through our online survey. Examples of organisations that have taken part in the PVG review so far include:

• Local Authorities
• NHS Boards
• Sport Governing Bodies
• Educational Institutes
• Church Groups
• Third sector organisations

A full list of organisations involved in the review can be found at Annex A.