Falkirk Council is committed to ensuring that all recruitment practices uphold the principles of equity, fairness and respect for human rights. We recognise that individuals with criminal convictions can make valuable contributions to our workforce and we will assess each case on its merits, free from discrimination.

Legislation allows us to carry out criminal conviction checks to ensure the safety and welfare of vulnerable individuals and to ensure suitable security vetting within the workplace.

Disclosure Scotland processes checks and shares information about people's criminal records. This helps us to employ the right people for certain types of work, like working with children or protected adults.

This policy provides the legal process of carrying out criminal conviction checks for specific posts. However, we will ensure to adopt a values-based approach that recognises that potential of individuals with convictions to contribute positively, especially in roles not involved vulnerable groups.

This policy applies to all potential and existing employees whose posts require a criminal conviction check to be carried out.  A list of posts requiring a criminal conviction check is updated regularly and held by Human Resources and is linked to the Regulated Roles list from Disclosure Scotland. We recognise the importance of security vetting to ensure the safety and security of information, data and assets and to limit and reduce any fraudulent activity within the workplace. 
 
Falkirk Council has a commitment to uphold the rights to privacy, dignity and non-discrimination. To enable us to fulfil our responsibilities, it is a condition of employment for council employees that they disclose details of any of the following that occur prior to commencing, or during the course of employment:

• Involvement in police investigations
• Criminal charges
• Police cautions
• Disciplinary action taken by professional or regulatory bodies.

If a current employee advises that they have a criminal conviction, a risk assessment should be undertaken by their manager.  The manager must approach this assessment in a fair and non-biased manner, ensuring they have undertaken relevant training in equity, diversity and human rights to support objective decision-making.  The manager will assess the information disclosed and decide whether or not it materially affects the individual’s suitability for their particular post. Minor issues or offences will be disregarded if they have no direct relevance to an individual’s job. This should be discussed with the HR Business Partner.  

Individuals who have committed an offence are considered to be rehabilitated after varying periods of time and their convictions are then deemed to be spent.  Under normal circumstances, individuals do not need to declare any spent convictions.  However, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act recognises that there are some situations —such as roles involving contact with children or protected adults - where information about spent convictions may still be disclosed. These exceptions apply only to professions that are excluded or exempted under the Act.

The types of work exempted under the order are generally posts where there is a requirement to provide care, training or supervision of children or protected adults, including voluntary positions.  There are however, other professions covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, and managers should be familiar with posts within their Service area that fall into this category.   
Where the period of rehabilitation is not complete, the conviction is deemed to be unspent.  In all situations, unspent convictions will be highlighted on the appropriate Disclosure Check.  Having a previous criminal conviction does not automatically stop an individual from being appointed to a post that is exempted from the act.  Managers are responsible for conducting a fair and objective risk assessment of the relevance of any conviction to the post being applied for. They must ensure that this assessment is free from bias and informed by appropriate training in equality, diversity, and human rights. Decisions should be based on the nature of the offence, its relevance to the role, and the individual’s rehabilitation and circumstances.

 
More information is available in How to carry out PVG and Disclosure Risk Assessments.

Whilst checks are carried out as a recruitment check, where a concern is raised during employment, an employee may be required to complete an additional check to ensure they remain suitable for a particular post. 

Legislation provides statutory protection to children and protected adults from harm.

PVG is a membership scheme which makes sure its members are allowed to work with children or protected adults.  It is designed to ensure that individuals who are unsuitable to work with  children or protected adults are identified and prevented from doing so. It also supports early detection of individuals who become unsuitable and prevention from continuing to work, or from seeking work, with children or protected adults.

The PVG Scheme is managed by Disclosure Scotland who maintain lists of individuals who are barred from working with protected groups.  The lists provide us and other registered bodies with a way of checking if potential or existing employees are barred from undertaking regulated roles.

It is a criminal offence for people who have been disqualified from regulated work to apply for a regulated role or for us to employ an individual to work with the groups they are barred from.

The information provided by Disclosure Scotland will depend on the type of check being requested and could include:

• Details of membership
• Details of relevant criminal records (if any)
• Information about a persons inclusion on the list of those barred from working with children and/or protected adults
• Other relevant information held by a local police force or Government body
• Clarification that there is no information held.

From April 2025 the new act defines work (paid or unpaid) with children or protected adults as regulated roles rather than regulated work.  These roles fall into two categories and are defined within the Acts.

• regulated roles with Children
• regulated roles with Protected Adults

The Regulated Roles list can be found on the Disclosure Scotland website. Not all roles are covered by the list, and there are list of activities which also help us to assess which roles require PVG membership

• Activities with children
• Activities with protected adults

If a role involves working with children or protected adults in a Regulated Role, employees must be a member and maintain membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme and complete a Level 2 Disclosure.  More information is available in How to carry out PVG and Disclosure Checks.

 From 1 July 2025, it is an offence for:

• anyone carrying out a regulated role to do so whilst not a member of the PVG scheme 
• organisations to offer any type of regulated role to an individual unless they have received a Level 2 with PVG disclosure 

Level 1 disclosure replace the previous Basic disclosure.

Level 2 disclosure replace most Standard disclosure checks which are required for roles such as solicitors and accountants.

Level 2 with barred check replaces most enhanced disclosures which are required for roles which require additional checks to show if you're barred from working with children or protected adults but are not eligible for PVG scheme membership for example, other appointments involving access to children or protected adults other than through regulated work such as those living in a household with foster children.

The PVG scheme is mandatory for people in a regulated role with children or protected adults. For example, a teacher or carer. This disclosure level is known as a 'Level 2 with PVG' in legislation.

More information is available in How to carry out PVG and Disclosure Checks. 

Disclosure Scotland represents Scottish Ministers when making decisions relating to referred individuals who have committed harmful conduct in Scotland.

As a provider of regulated work, as defined by Schedules 2 and 3 of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, Falkirk Council has to refer individuals to Disclosure Scotland in certain circumstances. This legal duty to refer is included in section 9 of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.

The duty to refer to Disclosure Scotland exists regardless of the involvement of other agencies, for example the police, regulatory bodies or local authorities.

Information on the types of conduct, harm and how to make a referral can be found in How to make a referral to Disclosure Scotland.

The Home Office is currently developing MAPPS, the upcoming replacement for the Violent and Sex Offender System (ViSOR). MAPPS will be the only UK wide system which can be accessed by any of the Responsible Authorities (local authorities, Police Scotland, health boards and the Prison Service) for all Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) individuals, i.e. Registered Sex Offenders, restricted patients, and other risk of serious harm individuals.

As this is Home Office-owned and maintained, the Home Office sets the level of vetting required.  If employees require to be vetted for use of this system, more information will be provided on an individual basis. 

The Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) is a set of guidelines followed for effective pre-employment screening.  We will follow the BPSS guidelines to ensure the identity and integrity of employees with access to official information or systems. 
It involves a number of checks:

• Identity check
• Nationality and Immigration Status
• Employment History (past 3 years)
• Verification of Criminal Record (unspent convictions only)
• References covering the previous 3-year period
• Checks relating to time spent living or working abroad.

The checks relating to gaps in employment history or additional references covering a 3-year period are considered good practice.  All relevant information required as part of this check should be recorded on the recruitment checklist.

Where the post requires a Disclosure check or PVG Membership and the individual has lived or worked overseas for a period of 3 months or more in the last 5 years, additional overseas criminal records checks should be carried out.  More information is available in How to carry out PVG and Disclosure Risk Assessment. 

Candidates and employees are responsible for all fees relating to criminal conviction checks.  A payroll deduction form must be signed by the candidate/employee in advance of any applications being submitted to Disclosure Scotland.  This form outlines available repayment options and should be discussed to accommodate individual financial circumstances and should be discussed with the candidate/employee.

The payment options are:

• to pay for this themselves on the online application or
• by salary deduction over  1 or 6 months.

Casual Workers and Modern Apprentices can extend repayment over a 2-year period.

In exceptional circumstances, extended repayment terms may also be offered to other employees subject to discussion and agreement with Human Resources. This ensures that financial barriers do not unfairly disadvantage individuals during the recruitment process.  Where a candidate does not sign the form, they should be advised that their application cannot be progressed any further.  However, managers should ensure this is communicated clearly and sensitively, and that candidates are given the opportunity to discuss any concerns or request reasonable adjustments.

Should a candidate have a check undertaken and choose not to start employment they remain responsible for the cost of the check.
The recruiting manager is responsible for writing to the candidate to explain the repayment process, ensuring the communication is respectful and provides clear options for repayment.

Countersignatories are authorised by Disclosure Scotland to sign off applications for PVG and disclosure checks on behalf of Falkirk Council.  As such, anyone signing disclosure applications must be registered with Disclosure Scotland. As a registered countersignatory, there are specific obligations which can be found on the Signatories gov.scot webpage.       
It is essential that all countersignatories familiarise themselves with this and the information on secure handling, use, storage, retention and destruction of disclosure information including the code of practice. 
 
If a Countersignatory receives any correspondence from Disclosure Scotland about a PVG member which they did not specifically request through a check, whether they are still employed or have left Falkirk Council, they should contact the HR Helpdesk.
The individual may have moved to another department or taken up secondary employment and other relevant countersignatories must be made aware of the correspondence in order to take any necessary actions. 

We comply fully with the Disclosure Scotland Code of Practice, and Data Protection Act 2018 regarding the correct handling, holding and destroying of Disclosure information. These legal frameworks ensure that personal data is treated with respect, confidentiality, and fairness. Further guidance on these requirements can be found on our Securing disclosure information webpage.

Whilst PVG/disclosure records must not be retained for any longer than required, a clearance form must be completed and uploaded to document storage on MyView. Any associated risk assessments must be retained securely by HR for future reference, in line with data protection principles. Countersignatories must also record Membership numbers and disclosure certificate numbers along with countersignatory details and relevant dates on the HR/Payroll (Resourcelink) system for future reference.  This ensures accurate record-keeping and supports fair and consistent decision-making.  Guidance for countersignatories is available on the relevant Teams Channel.

Counter-signatories, under the direction of the Council's Lead Signatory, are responsible for ensuring that PVG/disclosure records are stored in secure conditions in accordance with the Code of Practice. Information on counter-signatories can be obtained by contacting the HR Helpdesk. Aside from specific legal exceptions, it is an offence to share disclosure records with a third party. All staff involved in handling disclosure information must be trained in data protection, confidentiality, and equity principles to ensure that personal information is managed fairly and lawfully. 

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