Scottish Labour has accused the Scottish Government of failing to provide Disclosure Scotland with the resources necessary to process Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) checks within the official 14-day target. Data obtained by the party shows that between April 1 and December 31 last year, 11,875 applications took 42 days or more to complete, with the longest wait reaching 301 days.
Backlog and Delays
According to the figures, 20,441 applications took between 28 and 41 days, 45,355 waited between 15 and 27 days, and 257,061 were completed within 0-14 days. The longest suspension time was 146 days. All individuals working with children or vulnerable adults must undergo a PVG check before starting employment.
Labour's Criticism
Scottish Labour education spokeswoman Katherine Sangster said: “These checks are vital in keeping children and protected adults safe from harm. However, these figures show that thousands of checks are now taking much longer than the 14-day target for completion. This not only makes it more difficult for those working in roles such as teachers, nursery practitioners, or in our health service, to begin work, it also presents challenges for those organisations already struggling with staffing shortages.”
Sangster added: “A well-functioning disclosure system is a matter of public safety, but unfortunately, the SNP government has failed to provide Disclosure Scotland with the resources it needs to carry out robust and speedy checks. Ministers must urgently act to ensure the organisation has the support it needs to cut the backlog and bring down the wait times for these important checks to be completed.”
