Chamber and committees

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland do not hold the information requested.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services (VSDS) to assist voluntary sector organisations with navigating the disclosure system. VSDS works in partnership with Disclosure Scotland to help resolve issues experienced by the voluntary sector. While Disclosure Scotland do not receive reporting on delayed recruitment, we maintain close collaboration with VSDS to monitor performance and respond to any feedback received.

There are currently 12 civil servants assigned to the core Promise team. Work to keep The Promise is cross portfolio and officials across Scottish Government are actively engaged in work to support delivery of the recommendations set out in The Promise.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Children’s Hearings Scotland is responsible for the recruitment, training and retention of children’s hearings panel members and is assigned funding through the grant-in-aid process. It is a matter for the National Convener to allocate resource to the training of panel members. Grant-in-aid funding is detailed in CHS' annual report.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland received 25 formal complaints regarding errors in Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) disclosures in the period since 2021.

The Scottish Government remains resolutely committed to fulfilling all recommendations of the Independent Care Review and to Keeping The Promise by 2030.

The Promise Implementation Plan, published in March 2022, set out the Government’s approach to fulfilling these recommendations. A comprehensive update on progress was provided in the Implementation Plan Update published in September 2024, which outlined the actions taken and the ongoing work required.

Progress is being understood through the Promise Story of Progress, a joint approach co-authored by Scottish Government, COSLA and The Promise Scotland. One aspect of this is the Promise Progress Framework, which builds on a theory of change to identify outcomes for care-experienced children, young people, and families which need to improve by 2030, and national-level data that can help understand where change is happening.

The Scottish Government acknowledges that transformational change is required and that progress must be understood not only through outcomes, but also through the lived experiences and relationships that shape those outcomes. There are two further strands to the Promise Story of Progress, which seek to better understand organisational activity to Keep The Promise, and the voice of the care experienced community. The approach promotes shared accountability across the sector and supports continuous learning by identifying effective practices and areas for improvement, and is designed to evolve as new insights emerge. An update to all three these strands of The Promise Story of Progress will be published in December 2025.

The Government continues to work collaboratively across portfolios and with key stakeholders and delivery partners to ensure that the necessary changes are implemented and sustained.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government as it relates to an operational matter for the children’s hearings system. Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) are responsible for the scheduling and administration of children’s panel members.

The Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) publish annual statistics, which sets out a measure on time taken to progress referrals through the children’s hearings system. The information is available on the SCRA website: Official Statistics - SCRA.

The Scottish Government recognises that delays in securing permanence or adoption can negatively impact on children’s wellbeing.

We continue to work with organisations in Scotland to consider data and research on permanence, to understand where challenges remain, and what interventions are required to support positive change.

To promote consistent and effective practice in permanency, the Scottish Government commissioned the Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption (AFKA) Scotland to develop three national good practice guides on permanence in kinship care, foster care and adoption. These will be available in early 2026.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

From 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025 the longest waiting time for a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) result was 192.7 processing days. This was because the case required information from a third party to complete. This case was completed in November 2024.

Note 1: Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) applications from 1 April 2025 onwards, with the implementation of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020, represents: Level 2 PVG scheme disclosure (Join), Level 2 PVG scheme disclosure (Existing), Confirmation of PVG scheme membership (Join) and Confirmation of PVG scheme membership (Existing). Prior to 1 April 2025, PVG applications represents: Scheme Record Disclosure, Short Scheme Record Disclosure, Existing Scheme Record Disclosure and Statements of Scheme Membership.

Note 2: This figure relates to PVG applications completed between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025 inclusive.

Note 3: The processing time for a completed application incorporates all time between an application being received by Disclosure Scotland, through to completion with a disclosure issued to the applicant. Disclosure Scotland deducts any time which the application was suspended on our system, such as being suspended for customer contact. Weekend days are included in the number of processing days for applications, but national holidays and Scottish Government public and privilege holidays are excluded.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

In the past 12 months, Disclosure Scotland spent £300,321.94 in overtime payments.

Overtime allows us to be agile and responsive to changing demand, including handling application peaks, as we are a demand-led organisation.

Disclosure Scotland does not hold information on the reason for overtime; however, the use of overtime has been to respond to changing demand and higher than expected volumes in applications – for example, as a result of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 introducing the legal requirement to be in the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme if carrying out a regulated role.