Protecting vulnerable groups scheme

Our existing Protecting Vulnerable Groups – Guidance for Care Inspectorate Staff and Service Providers advises that providers should seek updates on individual staff PVG Scheme membership every three years.

This is not a requirement of Disclosure Scotland but rather our advice for safe recruitment good practice.

Where someone has previously only been a member of the PVG scheme for children and will now be working with vulnerable adults (or the other way round) an application to join the appropriate scheme must still be made.

If you have any questions in relation to this please contact your inspector.

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 In February 2011, the Scottish Government introduced a new membership scheme to replace and improve upon the current disclosure arrangements for people who work with vulnerable groups.

The Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG Scheme) will:

• Help to ensure that those who have regular contact with children and protected adults through paid and unpaid work do not have a known history of harmful behaviour.
• Be quicker and easier to use, reducing the need for PVG Scheme members to complete a detailed application form every time a disclosure check is required.
• Strike a balance between proportionate protection and robust regulation and make it easier for employers to determine who they should check to protect their client group.

The PVG Scheme is managed and delivered by Disclosure Scotland.

The Care Inspectorate, as a scrutiny body, has the following duties:

• Ensure that we are satisfied about the fitness of providers and managers of registered services.
• Ensure that providers of services implement the PVG scheme appropriately as part of the safe recruitment of the managers and staff of care services
• Ensure that we use our power to refer providers and supply information required by DS appropriately.

Read our guidance that sets out how we will achieve these duties and what we expect from providers of care services.

Referrals for consideration to Dislcosure Soctland

For this scheme to work successfully, it is necessary for organisations to pass information to Disclosure Scotland where they consider that an individual may not be suitable to do regulated work so that this can be properly evaluated and appropriate action taken.  Referrals can be made to Disclosure Scotland by employers and regulatory bodies such as the Care Inspectorate. These referrals will then be considered by Disclosure who will assess whether the individual should be barred from regulated work.

Read our guidance to find out more about refererals, consideration for listing, risk assessment and determinations.

Quality framework for daycare of children, childminding and school-aged childcare

We published our quality framework for daycare of children, childminding and school-aged childcare in March 2022, informing the sector that we would use the framework in our inspections from 1 June 2022.  We want to take this opportunity to provide you with some additional materials to support understanding and use of the framework as a self-evaluation tool.

The framework focuses on children’s wellbeing and sets out the elements that will help us answer key questions about the impact care and learning is making to outcomes for children. The primary use of the framework is as a tool for self-evaluation to assist settings self-evaluate their own performance in delivering good care and learning for children. What influences good outcomes for children has not changed but we hope the way in which the framework is set out will reassure practitioners of how this will apply in their particular setting. This framework should support settings to showcase their strengths and identify improvement, where required.

You can read across the new key questions to the previous quality themes:

Our inspectors will use the framework to provide independent assurance about the quality of care, play and learning. In March 2022 we informed providers that when using the framework at inspections, we will select a small number of core quality indicators. We have taken account of what has been happening in some settings alongside recovery from the pandemic, imbedding of the expansion programme and staffing. We have therefore updated the list of core indicators and included deployment of staff.  The core quality indicators that will be evaluated at inspection will be:

1.1 Nurturing care and support

1.3 Play and learning

2.2 Children experience high quality facilities

3.1 Quality assurance and improvement are led well

4.3 Staff deployment

      *4.1 Staff skills, knowledge, and values. (For childminders without assistants)

Useful links

• Frequently asked questions
• How our framework links to Education Scotland’s ‘How Good is Our Early learning and Childcare'

We also want to share some good practice examples of how the framework is supporting improvement in settings and inspectors will be keen to hear from you on inspection about the improvements you have made since the introduction of the framework.  We are excited to use the framework as our methodology will be transparent on how inspectors evaluate practice and supports settings deliver high quality play and learning experiences for children.  We look forward to seeing how the framework is used across the ELC sector to enhance the quality of care, play and learning provided to our children in Scotland. 

Pleased be assured when your inspector undertakes the first quality framework inspection of your setting, they will use the same approaches as previously used and at the beginning and throughout the inspection we will share information to ensure settings are fully informed and involved in the process.

Following the publication of ‘Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education’, including the recommendation, put forward by Professor Muir, to create a shared inspection framework for early learning and childcare settings, Scottish Government will undertake a consultation on approaches to scrutiny of early learning and childcare in the coming months. We are fully committed to working with the sector, other inspectorates and partner organisations to implement the findings of the consultation.

In the meantime this framework provides the sector with a framework that reflects national policy and best practice and will support settings moving forward and supporting good outcomes for children and their families.

Register a care service (other than childminding)

Care services in Scotland must, by law, register with the Care Inspectorate.  

We regulate care services using the Health and Social Care Standards and the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. 

Click here to see the definitions of the care services that must be registered with us.

Before you register a care service you should read:

• Guidance for applicants on applying to register a care service
• Guidance for providers and applicants on aims and objectives
• Guidance for providers on the registration of dispersed services
• Our quality framework relevant to your service type
• Self-evaluation for improvement – your guide
• Statement – EU Services Directive 
• This self-evaluation tool supports young people, adult, and older people services to assess how prepared they are for the Covid-19 pandemic (Key Question 7 from our quality frameworks) at the point of registration.

You can also visit The Hub, our ‘one-stop-shop’ website which has a wide range of resources aimed at supporting improvement in social care and social work by sharing intelligence and research-led practice. 

What to expect from the registration process 

You can now apply to register a care service online, using our new, secure system.  The online application is simple to complete and only asks you questions that are relevant to your service type. 

You can manage your application easily.  You can save it as you go and return to it later so you can complete and submit at your own pace.  You can go back to previous stages to check, change and add to your application.  The new application allows you to upload supporting documents and pay your application fee.

Read our Guidance for applicants on applying to register a care service and online registration application form - user guide before applying.  

Fees

Care services must pay fees to be registered with us.  The maximum limit is set by Scottish Ministers.  The fees we collect contribute to our operating costs.

We charge a fee for registering a new service and an annual continuation fee.  The annual continuation fee licenses a care service to operate.

All application fees are non-returnable.

To find out more about our fees click here.  

Fire safety information

The Fire and Rescue Service may inspect your premises to confirm your compliance, or to enforce the legislation if necessary.  Your application will not be concluded without a completed Fire Safety Checklist.  Read our guidance notes for fire safety checklist.

You should complete the following documents and return them to relevant organisation when you are ready to do so.  As the checklist is a declaration that everything is in place you may wish to wait until later in the process to do this e.g. if you are undergoing building works.

• Fire safety checklist - This should be completed and sent your local fire authority.
• Fire safety checklist confirmation - This acts as your confirmation to us that you have sent the checklist to the local fire authority.  This should be completed and sent to us.

Membership of the PVG scheme and criminal records checks

You must pay an additional fee for the cost of a Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme record checks as appropriate.  We will determine from your application who this will be applicable to and be in contact with you to provide the relevant disclosure documentation.

You can find out more about the fees for PVG applications on the Disclosure Scotland website.

The Care Inspectorate must be a counter signatory to your own scheme record, and as such we require you to progress your PVG application through us.  Once we complete the first part of the PVG application, you’ll receive an email with a link to complete your section.

Please be aware that, in addition to the PVG check, the Care Inspectorate also run online searches of publicly available information.  If we have concerns about the information we find, we may contact Police Scotland.

Registering with Disclosure Scotland

For you to countersign PVG or disclosure checks for your staff or volunteers, you must be registered with Disclosure Scotland.  You can find out how to register with Disclosure Scotland on their website. You will have a number of responsibilities after your register, including:

• following Disclosure Scotland's Code of Practice
• referring individuals to Disclosure Scotland when harmful or potential harmful behaviour and you dismiss the person as a result (or would or might have done had they not otherwise left).

You can also use an umbrella body to countersign PVG or disclosure checks on behalf of your organisation.  A list of umbrella bodies is available on the Disclosure Scotland website.

Contact Disclosure Scotland if you need help:

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: 0300 020 0040
Monday to Thursday: 9am to 4pm
Friday: 9am to 3:30pm

What happens next?

Once we have received your completed application and all the documentation we have asked you for, and you have paid the fee, we will contact you.  We aim to assess applications for a childminding service within three months and all other services within six months.  However, this presumes that you supply us with a competent and fully detailed application, as well as any additional information we request.  It is in your interest to give us all the information we ask for in the application form to prevent any delays or the risk of us closing or refusing your application.

Once you have submitted your application, our national registration team will check:

• that the information you give us in the application form is correct
• that the correct fee has been paid
• whether you are fit to provide and manage the service
• if your premises (where the service is to be provided) are fit to be used for that purpose
• that the proposed service will make all the proper provisions for the health, welfare, independence, choice, privacy and dignity of everyone using the service.

We may also check the financial viability of the service.  Any information we ask for during this process is in accordance with the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

Successful registration

If your registration is successful, we will confirm this and provide you with a certificate of registration (electronically via our eForm portal), detailing the conditions of registration.  You should print the certificate and display it so that anyone who uses your service can read it.  The conditions of registration are also available on our care service list.

You will also see a list of records that you must keep and a list of notifications that you must make to the Care Inspectorate within our eForms portal.  See our guidance on records that all registered care services (except childminding) must keep and guidance on notification reporting.

Decisions on an application to register a service

Following an application for registration, under Section 59(1) of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 ("the Act"), the Care Inspectorate can in terms of s 60(1):

• grant the application unconditionally, s60(1)
• grant the application subject to conditions, s60(2)
• refuse the application, s60(1).

If we propose to refuse your registration, or to grant registration subject to conditions that have not been agreed in writing, we must give you notice of our proposal to do so.  Such a notice, where sent by post, is deemed (by section 101 of the Act) to be received on the third day after the day it was posted. 

If you wish to dispute any matters, you must do this in writing within 14 days.  The notice of proposal will state where these must be addressed to.

If we propose to refuse registration, or to grant registration subject to conditions that have not been agreed in writing, you have a right of appeal to the sheriff.  This right is set out at section 75 of the Act.  Any appeal must be made within 14 days (17 days if we have sent this in the post). 

Create an account to begin your application

Sign in to see an existing application

If you need the application form in an alternative format, please call our contact centre on 0345 600 9527.

Register care

Message from the registration team - 2 February 2024

The Care Inspectorate aims to provide the highest quality and efficient service to providers or new applicants of care services through the registration and variation functions. We do this to enable care and support being available to people and communities. Currently the registration teams are experiencing an increased volume of registration and variation applications from across the care sector but particularly in adult care services. We are systematically working through the applications and undertaking routine checks where we can and allocating these to inspectors as soon as inspector capacity is available.

We appreciate that once you have submitted an application you will be keen to have your application progressed. Please be assured we will progress your application to an inspector as soon as we are able to do so. When you have submitted an application and we have not been able to allocate to an inspector we will contact you fortnightly to update you on the situation. Please be assured we will process your application as soon as we can.

Thank you for your understanding and patience with this during this challenging period.

If you want to operate a care service in Scotland you must, by law, register with the Care Inspectorate. 

What to expect from the registration process

You can apply to register a care service online, using our secure system.  The online application is simple to complete and only asks you questions that are relevant to your service type.

You can manage your application easily.  You can save it as you go and return to it later so you can complete and submit at your own pace.  You can go back to previous stages to check, change and add to your application.  The application allows you to upload supporting documents and pay your application fee.

We aim to assess applications for a childminding service within three months and all other services within six months.  However, this presumes that you supply us with a competent and fully detailed application, as well as any additional information we request.  It is in your interest to give us all the information we ask for in the application form to prevent any delays or the risk of us closing or refusing your application.

Once you have submitted your application, our national registration team will check:

• the information you have given us
• whether the provider is fit to provide the service
• whether the manager is fit to manage the service
• that the proposed premises are fit to be used for that purpose
• that the service will make all the proper provisions for the health, welfare, independence, choice, privacy and dignity of everyone using the service.

We may also check the financial viability of the service.  Any information we ask for during the registration process is in accordance with the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

Before applying to register a service

Before you apply to register a care service you must make sure you have read and understood the associated guidance and legislation.  

Every registered care service must continuously meet the requirements of:

• the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010
• the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Registration) Regulations 2011 (SSI 2011/28)
• the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Applications) Order 2011 (SSI 2011/29)
• the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011 (SSI 2011/210)
• the Health and Social Care Standards
• the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019
• any other legislation relevant to your service.

Before you apply, you should also read:

• quality frameworks
• self-evaluation for improvement – your guide

For more information read our guidance below:

• Guidance for applicants on applying to register a care service
• Online registration application form - user guide

For more information about registering a service (other than childminding) click here. 

For more information about registering a childminding service click here.

If you are unclear about the kind of service you want to apply for, click here to see the definitions of care services which must be registered with us.

For general advice about registering a care service you can contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more specific queries, you can request pre-application advice.  Click here for guidance on how to do this.

Registered manager requirements

In response to feedback from services, the Care Inspectorate and the SSSC have amended the policy and guidance on the qualification requirements for managers of registered services.  New managers applying to become the Registered Manager with the Care Inspectorate are required to already hold a level 7 practitioner qualification.  This replaces the guidance issued in April this year that new managers must hold a level 9 manager qualification. 

Please note, the SSSC registration requirements remain unchanged.

Access the latest guidance here.

Fees

Care services must pay fees to be registered with us.  The maximum limit is set by Scottish Ministers.  The fees we collect contribute to our operating costs.  We charge a fee for registering a new service and an annual continuation fee.  The annual continuation fee licenses a care service to operate.

All application fees are non-returnable.

To find out more about our fees click here.

Apply to register a service 

Create an account to begin your application

Sign in to see an existing application

If you require the application form in an alternative format, please call our contact centre on 0345 600 9527.