Good morning, convener and committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to make some opening remarks on the bill.
The bill builds on the reforms that have been achieved under the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 and the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019, both of which were recently passed by the Scottish Parliament.
The bill’s main purpose is to strengthen the barring service in order to maintain the Scottish Government’s ability to protect the most vulnerable people in society while delivering a range of positive and proportionate reforms to the disclosure regime. Since November 2016, when the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills announced a review of Scotland’s disclosure regime, we have engaged extensively with stakeholders to achieve that balance.
Last summer, following preconsultation engagement with more than 300 individuals and organisations and an online survey that generated more than 800 responses, we undertook the statutory public consultation on disclosure. The consultation document was distributed widely to stakeholders, including all organisations that are registered with Disclosure Scotland. We received 353 responses from a broad cross-section of Scottish life, including individuals, charities, sports associations, advocacy groups and private sector businesses. The engagement with our stakeholders has helped to shape the bill that is before Parliament.
Part 1 of the bill creates the legislative framework for the state disclosure of criminal history and other information, reducing the number of disclosure products in order to streamline and simplify the process for applicants for disclosure.
The bill gives disclosure applicants greater control over the sharing of disclosure information by separating into two distinct stages the application and the individual’s request to make that information available to a third party. That is an important improvement on the current process that will allow individuals to apply for a review of disclosure information before it is seen by a third party.
For review applications, the bill establishes new procedures to have childhood conviction information, other relevant information and removable convictions taken off a person’s disclosure. It also sets out the role of the independent reviewer, who will make determinations on such review applications.
On childhood convictions, the bill provides that convictions for offences that were committed while the offender was under 18 will no longer automatically be disclosed. Instead, the Scottish Government will have to decide in each case whether to include such information. If it is included, the Government will need to give the applicant reasons why the information is relevant to the disclosure purpose and ought to be disclosed.
The Scottish Government recognises the important role that other relevant information—known as ORI—from the police plays in safeguarding, so it is vital that it continue to be available to protect the public. The main reform in the bill is the introduction of statutory guidance, which will be issued by Scottish ministers to the chief constable, who must have regard to it when exercising functions under that part of the bill. There will also be statutory review mechanisms to have ORI removed from a disclosure. In relation to removable convictions, the bill will end the current process of people having to apply to the sheriff and will replace it with an internal application to Disclosure Scotland, followed by a right to apply to the independent reviewer.
In summary, the bill provides for a two-step process in which decisions that are made by Disclosure Scotland in relation to childhood convictions or removable convictions or by the chief constable in relation to ORI may be subject to independent review, followed by a right of appeal to the sheriff on a point of law only. That will all take place before the disclosure is made available to a third party. We will ensure that the process is less burdensome for the applicant and that it provides a single streamlined outcome for the applicant.
The bill also provides that nobody who is under the age of 16 should have access to the state disclosure system. That mirrors arrangements in the rest of the United Kingdom. Provision is made for exceptions when it is considered to be appropriate in the circumstances to provide disclosure. However, there is an absolute prohibition on anyone under 16 joining the protecting vulnerable groups scheme.
I turn to part 2 and the changes that are being made to the protecting vulnerable groups scheme. The bill introduces a mandatory PVG scheme for people who work with vulnerable groups—something for which the Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee said there was a “compelling case” in its 2017 report, “Child Protection in Sport”.
The PVG scheme is currently a lifetime membership scheme. In its present form, it will simply continue to increase in size. The bill aims to address that by introducing renewable time-limited membership of five years. The bill will replace the concept of doing “regulated work” with a list of core activities that give rise to “regulated roles” that trigger PVG scheme membership—for paid and voluntary activities—with the intention of ensuring that the scheme focuses on those who hold “power or influence over” children and protected adults.
In responding to the well-documented episodes of exploitation and abuse in the international aid sector, the bill will also bring certain regulated roles that are outside Scotland into the scope of the PVG scheme. The bill also makes provision for Scottish ministers to have new powers to impose conditions and limitations on scheme members while they are under consideration for listing. Where those apply, they will ensure that vulnerable people are protected from individuals who pose a serious risk of harm.
Finally, local authorities will be able to make referrals to Disclosure Scotland within the context of their normal adult and child protection roles when there is no employer involved that can make a referral under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. That addresses the safeguarding gap that exists in the care environment, where, in particular, self-directed support has been much more widely used since 2007.
My colleagues and I are pleased to take any questions.