Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41180 on 28 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Employees already in regulated roles on 1 April 2025 and whose employer had received a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme record did not need to obtain a new Level 2 with PVG disclosure. Only people who were in regulated roles whose employer had never registered their interest in the PVG scheme member or who were taking up a regulated role with a new employer needed to apply.

In recognition of the need for organisations to adapt to the new legislation and allow those in roles that were not eligible for PVG scheme membership prior to 1 April to join the Scheme, Disclosure Scotland provided a “grace period” of three months from 1 April for applications to be submitted before offence provisions came into force.

To manage volumes, Disclosure Scotland worked with organisations to encourage them to get those people who were eligible to join prior to April 2025 into the scheme before it became mandatory. Organisations were encouraged to contact Disclosure Scotland to discuss regulated roles and provide anticipated volumes that would be received between 1 April and 30 June 2025. While Disclosure Scotland had no power to compel organisations to do so at that time due to the non-mandatory nature of the scheme, many stakeholders did work with Disclosure Scotland to ensure those already eligible were in the scheme before 1 April and project their applicant volumes for the grace period.

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

There has never been a provision in law for supervised working while organisations were waiting to obtain a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme record. Until 1 April 2025, the PVG scheme was not a legal requirement therefore organisations could choose to have people in regulated work without seeing PVG scheme membership.

In forecasting volumes resultant from the legal requirement to be in the PVG scheme if carrying out a regulated role, Disclosure Scotland expected 50,000 additional applications against normal levels and diverted 10 full-time equivalent staff from other areas of the business to help manage delivering disclosure processing and support services. Planning included that, from 1 April onwards, application volumes and resources were monitored daily through checkpoint meetings to enable timely decision-making.

Within normal resource, Disclosure Scotland has historically exceeded its Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 90% of applications processed within 14 days. In 2023-24, 95.3% of applications were completed within 14 days and in 2024-25, 97.7% within 14 days.

Disclosure Scotland is currently performing within its SLA to process 90% of applications within 14 days.

Scotland is committed to being an international leader on climate justice: our £36 million Climate Justice Fund has demonstrated this commitment and supports those most affected by the climate crisis in ways that are participatory, rights-based and inclusive. We are currently considering options for Scottish Government attendance at and around COP 30 and we will announce plans in due course.

The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) Programme is now live in all 31 HSCPs across Scotland. At end August 2025, over 97,000 people had been referred to the programme. We will shortly provide an update on our progress towards the significant milestone of 100,000 people referred.

Over the coming months, the Scottish Government will be working with our partners to review how well DBI has been embedded, and what else may be needed moving forward to strengthen it. Our focus will be on the sustainability of the programme, and maintaining the right level of support to frontline services.

The first step of this review will be considering the results of the evaluation of under 18s elements of the DBI programme, which we are due to publish in November 2025.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data centrally. Complaints about care services are investigated by the Care Inspectorate, the independent body responsible for the scrutiny and improvement of care and social work services in Scotland.

When corporate devices are no longer required for operational use, we follow a structured and secure disposal process to ensure data protection and environmental compliance. This includes:

• Assessment: Devices are reviewed to determine whether they are eligible for redeployment, reuse, or disposal.
• Data Sanitisation: All devices are securely wiped using industry-leading data erasure software that complies with internationally recognised standards, and UK-specific requirements such as GDPR and NCSC (National Cyber Security Council) guidance. This process ensures that all data is permanently and irreversibly removed from the device, with tamper-proof erasure certificates generated for audit and compliance purposes.

Reused or Recycled: Devices not fit for redeployment are either reused or recycled. Reused devices may be sold through approved channels or donated to approved third-sector organisations. Devices offered for sale are sold at auction by a contracted supplier. The specifics of each purchaser are not tracked. Donated devices are provided to third-sector organisations for continued use where possible, although supply chain constrictions following COVID-19 have interrupted donations in some years.

Remaining devices are recycled through certified e-waste partners. As noted above, whether resold, donated, or recycled devices are only ever disposed of after being fully wiped of all data.

The following table gives a breakdown of laptop and desktop devices disposed of since 2020. The first column displays the year while the next two differentiate between laptop and desktop devices. The remaining columns show the total number of both device types either resold, recycled, or donated. The donated column also indicates the recipients of devices for that year.

All mobile phones returned for disposal are not eligible for reuse, therefore no data is available.

Ministers will develop an implementation strategy including expected delivery dates, for bovine EID, once the outcomes of the UK Government/EU trade negotiations have concluded.

The Scottish Government has considered impacts on cross border trade and there is no evidence to suggest that there will be any significant impact if ultra-high frequency (UHF) cattle EID is introduced. Electronic reading will not be mandated, and the ability to visually read an ear tag will remain. A Partial Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) was published as part of the consultation on bovine EID.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of timely access to psychological support, including psychological therapies, for bereaved parents. One of the main ways this is provided is through Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention (MNPI) services. For most parents who have suffered a pregnancy loss, bereavement and grief support provided by their Health Board or third sector organisations will meet their needs and they will not require specialist mental health services.