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

There are 13 staffing vacancies currently unfilled within Disclosure Scotland.

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

Disclosure Scotland run regular training courses aimed at organisations who work with children and young people and cover a range of topics regarding safeguarding and working with children and young people.

We also target newly registered organisations and signatories to ensure that they have a fuller understanding of safeguarding processes when they start to use disclosure products including the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme.

Since 2019, Disclosure Scotland have held 198 events to support organisations in understanding their legal duties in relation to PVG referrals about people who have displayed harmful behaviour towards children and young people. These have been attended by 1978 delegates from 979 different organisations.

We have also run 129 events entitled “Helping Employers Recruit Fairly” which aims to broaden the understanding of information disclosed by Disclosure Scotland, how to implement better risk assessment processes and make informed recruitment decisions. These have been attended by 1402 delegates from 390 different organisations.

All of Disclosure Scotland’s training products provide delegates with a range of materials to support their role in working with children and young people including links to downloadable guidance that is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure organisations have access to the most up to date information.

The Scottish Government aims to engage with children and young people wherever appropriate during the development and review of child protection policies and services.

Throughout the recently updated , national-guidance-child-protection-scotland-2021-updated-2023.pdf (www.gov.scot) it is continuously emphasised that at a local level, staff working in child protection should engage positively with children and families during delivery of services. A resource is also currently being developed by Scottish Government in collaboration with the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS) which will provide an accessible source of information on the guidance specifically for children, young people and families. This resource is being co-designed with children and young people.

The Bairns’ Hoose Bairns' Hoose - Children and Young People Participation and Engagement Plan (www.gov.scot) describes how children and young people will be involved in the development and implementation of the Bairns’ Hoose in Scotland.

More broadly, the Children and Young People’s Participation Framework offers an approach that ensures a range of children and young people are involved in the wider work of the Scottish Government. This includes a particular focus on those identified as being seldom heard, furthest from their rights, or vulnerable because of factors related to their personal development, features of their family life, or because of wider influences that impact on them within their community. Any engagement with children and young people around child protection policies and services will follow the principles of the CYP Participation Framework.

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

Disclosure Scotland run regular training courses aimed at organisations who work with children and young people and cover a range of topics regarding safeguarding and working with children and young people.

We also target newly registered organisations and signatories to ensure that they have a fuller understanding of safeguarding processes when they start to use disclosure products including the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme.

Since 2019, Disclosure Scotland have held 198 events to support organisations in understanding their legal duties in relation to PVG referrals about people who have displayed harmful behaviour towards children and young people. These have been attended by 1978 delegates from 979 different organisations.

We have also run 129 events entitled “Helping Employers Recruit Fairly” which aims to broaden the understanding of information disclosed by Disclosure Scotland, how to implement better risk assessment processes and make informed recruitment decisions. These have been attended by 1402 delegates from 390 different organisations.

All of Disclosure Scotland’s training products provide delegates with a range of materials to support their role in working with children and young people including links to downloadable guidance that is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure organisations have access to the most up to date information.

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

The following table details average number of days to process disclosure applications, by application type, from 2016 to 2023:

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

Disclosure Scotland is focused on providing reliable safeguarding outcomes for the public. It plans and regularly reviews service delivery performance to meet the Service Level Agreement. The process includes a range of system and human validation checks to ensure the accuracy of the information disclosed along with a comprehensive programme of training and performance management.

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

Disclosure Scotland’s current forms of guidance are primarily available online as either informative webpages or downloadable documents. Where possible, we draft our guidance for a reading age of 9-11. Before these are published, we review both their form and content to ensure they are suitable for users of differing needs, this includes:

• compatibility with screen reading software,
• use of accessible colour schemes and text fonts for ease of reading,
• use of clear demonstrative graphics to illustrate key points and making using of Alt Text function to ensure these images can be understood by screen reading software.

We have also begun publishing short infographic guidance videos which summarise key points on safeguarding and the disclosure process for all stakeholders, ensuring that they follow the same accessibility principles laid out previously. These guidance videos include narrations and full captions.

We are reviewing the guidance and support we provide as part of the implementation work for the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020. Last year we collaborated with 102 organisations, including organisations who work with and advocate for children and young people, to review proposed new guidance, collect feedback on what improvements we can make and on what new forms of guidance would be effective in communicating any changes to safeguarding processes. This feedback from our stakeholders is informing the design of guidance and support that will be published for the implementation of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 for both organisations and individuals.

When making changes to our digital service delivery, we consider all aspects of the Digital Scotland Service Standard to ensure our digital system is built around different users and their needs and that they are accessible and inclusive for everyone. We are subject to independent assurance from the Digital Assurance Office with our public facing services to ensure we align to these standards. Although ‘digital first’ is our strategy for service delivery, not everyone can use digital Government services. We will deliver improvements to our assisted digital journey as part of the Disclosure Act implementation.

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

Disclosure Scotland work closely with organisations regarding supporting children and young people with information on the disclosure processes. This is to ensure that children and young people have the information they need to understand the disclosure process and to inform those supporting them on their journey. This work includes publication of information on supporting learners who have offended and what education practitioners should know as part of a suite of resources available on the Education Scotland website. We also collaborate with Who Cares? Scotland on disclosure matters and have produced some short videos providing information on key areas that have caused concern to care-experienced young people such as application completion and what the consideration for listing (barring) process is. This information is available on the "disclosure scotland" - Who Cares? Scotland (whocaresscotland.org) .

During the formal consideration for listing (barring) process, if Disclosure Scotland identify a potential vulnerability, we will engage with relevant professionals such as social workers, to ensure we are communicating with the individual in the most appropriate and supportive way.

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

Disclosure Scotland has reviewed its letters, in connection with the consideration for listing (barring) process, to ensure they are written in Plain English and easier to understand. We have removed much of the ‘legal jargon’ where possible (not just for those who have experienced childhood trauma but for all individuals). We have also recently reviewed our letters which set out the reasons for listing to ensure these are easier to understand, again with less legal reference where possible. During the formal consideration process if we identify a potential vulnerability (which is not restricted to a history of care experience), Disclosure Scotland will reach out to relevant professionals, such as a social worker, to ensure we are communicating with the individual in the most appropriate and supportive way.

New processes for review applications under the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 are due to be implemented in April 2025. Disclosure Scotland is engaging with Who Cares? Scotland, Children and Young People's Centre for Justice and Clan Childlaw about the effect on people who had justice-experience in childhood.