Disclosure Scotland - Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme application queries: FOI release

Information requested

Please provide the following information. These relate to procedural matters and are not considered to be relative to private or priveledged information related to any individual. The request related to how information is recieved and processed

1 Is there a procedure for submission of a PVG request that does not require an online form to be completed and submitted via a web based application. If not why not.

2 Is a paper application acceptable and if not why not on the basis it follows the same format and provides the same information as the online form.

3. What is the time taken to vet an application in accordance with the standards implied by the Scottish Goverment and the actual time as a comparison.

4 Is there a process for urgent applications and if so what is deemed as urgent and what is the process and time applied to these. What may be deemed urgent?

5 How many paper applications were processed in the past 3 months.

6 How many staff are involved in vetting of applications and as an average how many applications do they vet on a daily basis.

Response

I have addressed each of your questions below.

1. Is there a procedure for submission of a PVG request that does not require an online form to be completed and submitted via a web based application. If not why not.
There is an “offline” application process. This is detailed on our Offline application for a PVG scheme disclosure (Join) - mygov.scot webpage.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

​​​​​​​2. Is a paper application acceptable and if not why not on the basis it follows the same format and provides the same information as the online form.
This information is provided in the answer to question 1.

3. What is the time taken to vet an application in accordance with the standards implied by the Scottish Goverment and the actual time as a comparison.
Disclosure Scotland’s aim is to complete applications within 14 days of receipt. To obtain information on actual processing times, you can access our website where we publish statistics on our performance: Our performance - Disclosure Scotland.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

4. Is there a process for urgent applications and if so what is deemed as urgent and what is the process and time applied to these. What may be deemed urgent?
Disclosure Scotland does not offer a “priority” or “fast track” service. Applications are progressed in date order and prioritised on a case-by-case basis without deferring to any set criteria on what is determined as urgent.

5. How many paper applications were processed in the past 3 months.
For the period 9 September to 9 December 2025 (both dates inclusive), 2,858 paper channel applications were processed. [Notes 1 to 3]

Note 1: Applications received by email or by post are classified as paper channel applications.
Note 2: A completed application incorporates all time between an application being received by Disclosure Scotland, through to completion with a disclosure issued to the applicant. Any suspension time, such as, being suspended for customer contact is deducted from the processing time. Please note, weekend days are included in the number of processing days for applications, but national holidays and Scottish Government public and privilege holidays are excluded.
Note 3: Please note that the analysis reflects the time period in which the paper channel applications were completed within and not the time period in which they were received. Not all applications will be issued in the same month in which they are received.

6. How many staff are involved in vetting of applications and as an average how many applications do they vet on a daily basis.
The below figure includes A3 and A4-band staff involved in processing any application, as vetting is a component of all applications. As of November 2025, 176 staff were involved in processing applications.
Regarding your request for the number of applications vetted by staff on a daily basis, you can access data on the number of applications processed on our website: Our performance -Disclosure Scotland.

7. How many staff are employed and what percentage of staff are working from home on a regular basis, on full time home working, and or refusing to return to work after covid restrictions.
Some of the information is available in the below published FOIs on the Scottish Government website:
Disclosure Scotland hybrid working: FOI release - gov.scot
Disclosure Scotland hybrid working and call management policy: FOI release - gov.scot

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. As of November 2025, Disclosure Scotland employs 387 staff.

We have no recorded instances of staff members having refused to return to the office.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.