Previous News Archive
This Page contains certain historical information which was previously included within the Latest News Page. The information may still be relevant or of interest and may or may not be replicated in other Pages of the website.
15 March 2006
Disclosure fee increase
Further to the article dated 28 February 2006 below, applicants, registered bodies, employers and other interested parties are asked to note the following.
Any Disclosure Scotland application forms received prior to 1 April 2006 will be charged at £13.60. Any applications received on or after 1 April 2006 will be charged at the new fee of £20.
Applications received prior to 1 April 2006 BUT are incorrectly completed, or require further information to be provided, and are returned to the applicant/registered body for these reasons will be charged at £13.60 if we receive the corrected application prior to 1 April 2006. If the corrected application is received back by us on or after 1 April 2006 then they will be charged the new fee of £20.
Application forms which have Barcodes commencing 00201, 00202, 00203 or 00301 which state £13.60 and are received on or after 1 April 2006 will be charged the new fee of £20.
Applications received with a cheque or postal order made out with the incorrect fee will be returned. Those receiving invoices are advised that the April 2006 invoices/statements will reflect the new fee.
28 February 2006
Changes to Disclosure service and fee increase
The Scottish Executive has announced a number of changes to the service provided by Disclosure Scotland and to Part V of the Police Act 1997 which provides the legislative framework for the service.
This package of changes includes:-
- Implementing a number of measures to improve the protection of vulnerable groups. This includes extending eligibility for enhanced disclosures to a wider group of people working with children or adults at risk, allowing more rigorous identity checks of applicants and extending the range of organisations from which Disclosure Scotland can obtain non-conviction information. These will come into force on 1 April 2006 and further information will be available in the near future.
- A revised and simplified disclosure application form which is expected to come into force in summer 2006.
- An increase in the fee charged to £20 per Disclosure. This change will come into force on 1 April 2006. This is the first increase since the Disclosure Scotland service was introduced in April 2002. Even with this increased charge, Disclosure Scotland still provides good value compared to the similar service in England & Wales where Standard and Enhanced Disclosures currently cost £29 and £34 respectively although it is believed that they will also rise in April to £31 and £36 respectively.
Scottish Ministers will continue to cover the cost of Disclosures for volunteers working in the voluntary sector with children or adults at risk.
November 2005
What are your future Disclosure plans?
There may be a number of reasons or occasions when Registered Bodies require to send Disclosure Scotland relatively large quantities of applications. This could be for a number of reasons, including:-
- the organisation or employer experiencing a change of internal policies or external regulations, such as an early implementation of Section 11(3)(b) of the POCSA (as detailed in the following article) or where local authorities decide to licence all owners of houses in multiple occupation (HMO's)
- where colleges and universities or regulatory or statutory bodies, such as the GTCS or SQA, submit large numbers of applications during particular periods, possibly for course or registration purposes
Whilst Disclosure Scotland monitors trends to identify when anticipated increases may occur, it would be helpful if Registered Bodies could provide us with some period of notice of them submitting large quantities of applications. It would be of assistance if you could provide us with the numbers involved, when to expect them and the reasons why they are being submitted.
If you are able to help then please contact us.
November 2005
Launch of new Disclosure Scotland Website
Disclosure Scotland upgrades its website. The new site has been developed to be more user friendly providing visitors with improved navigation between the various areas and greater access to a wider range of information.
See the Help section for more technical information.
October 2005
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 (POCSA)
In terms of Section 11(3)(a) of POCSA, it has been a legal requirement since 11 April 2005 for employers and voluntary organisations to check the Disqualified from Working with Children List (DWCL) for NEW recruits or volunteers into Child Care positions.
Section 11(3)(b), which is still to be implemented, will make it an offence for an employer or voluntary organisation to continue to employ someone who is on the DWCL. In other words, when the terms of this Section take effect, organisations will be required to check the DWCL to see if any of their existing employees or volunteers employed in Child Care positions are included on it.
Whilst there is no current legal requirement to check existing staff there is nothing to stop organisations commencing such checks. If any organisation intends to carry out these "retrospective" checks on existing staff then it would be of assistance to Disclosure Scotland if they could advise us how many checks they expect to carry out and during which timeframe. Please contact us.
The only way to check whether or not someone is on the DWCL is via a Disclosure check from Disclosure Scotland.
Further information on POCSA is available.
October 2005
Position Applied For
Countersignatories are requested to ensure that they complete Question C2 of the Disclosure application form appropriately and that the Position Applied For is relevant and clearly understood. It is appreciated that certain position descriptions require to be abbreviated as there may not be sufficient space on the application form but we have experienced difficulties in determining what the positions are.
The new application form, which is currently being developed, will be revised to accommodate additional space for lengthy position descriptions.
December 2004
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 (POCSA) commenced on 10th January 2005. This establishes a Scottish list of adults Disqualified from Working with Children (DWCL). Individuals will be referred to the list either by the courts or by their employers (past and present). The only way to check whether or not someone is on the list is via a Disclosure check from Disclosure Scotland.
POCSA also enables Disclosure Scotland to access the lists held in England and Wales, that is, the list established under Section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 and the list of persons subject to a direction under the Education Act 2002 (usually referred to as List 99).
You can also find further information by clicking on POCSA FAQ’s (original) or POCSA FAQ's (updated)
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 can be obtained from HMSO at www.opsi.gov.uk You may find of particular interest the definitions of what constitutes a Childcare Position in Schedule 2
The Scottish Executive has produced a number of guidance documents for different customer groups and these are detailed below:-
- Guidance for Organisations in respect of POCSA (Scottish Executive)(PDF)
- Guidance for the Voluntary Sector in respect of POCSA (Scottish Executive but on CRBS website)(PDF)
- Guidance for Individuals in respect of POCSA (Scottish Executive)(PDF)(376Kb)
- Procedural note (Determination Process) outling administrative arrangements for deciding cases referred to Scottish Ministers for inclusion on the Disqualified from Working with Children List (Scottish Executive)(PDF)(312Kb)
June 2004
Visa Applications to the USA
For those seeking immigrant and non-immigrant visa's to the United States, please be advised that Basic level disclosures are NOT acceptable - please refer to this letter from the US Embassy in London. You are also reminded that individuals cannot directly obtain Standard and Enhanced level disclosures. It is recommended that you obtain a Subject Access report from your local police force to assist you in your visa application. Details of your local police force can be found here - Scottish Police forces - or - All UK Police forces - or - English, Welsh and Northern Ireland forces. Further information on Subject Access can also be found HERE
July 2003
Airside Passes
In April 2003, as sole providers of Basic Disclosures, Disclosure Scotland were asked by the Department for Transport (DfT) to make the Basic Disclosure Service available to anyone who requires an airside pass at a UK airport. Should you require this service you will find details on the Basic Disclosure and the application process pages of this website. The requirement to go through this process is laid down by the DfT and they have produced the list of Disqualifying Criteria. Please refer any queries on these aspects of the process to the DfT. Go to the DfT's Airside Pass Page for a full explanation of the service and how to use it.
