Legislative changes impacting organisations in Scotland

19th February 2025

Some big legislative changes are coming into effect this year, which will have an impact on befriending projects operating in Scotland. Act now to ensure your project is prepared. The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 will commence on the 1st April 2025, with a grace period for organisations to be compliant by 30 June 2025. Organisations with regulated roles must act now to ensure they are compliant with the new legislative requirements for the Protection of Vulnerable Groups.

Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020

Important changes to the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 are coming into effect on 1st April 2025. Key updates include:

• Membership of the PVG scheme will become a legal requirement from 1st April 2025 for those carrying out a regulated role.
• the introduction of simplified disclosure products and people having more control over their information, including the introduction of a 5 year membership and the end of lifetime PVG membership
• Replacing the concept of ‘regulated work’ with ‘regulated roles’, making it more easily understood.
• New definition of a child.
• New definition of a Protected Adult.
• New criteria for defining ‘contact’. This now includes physical contact, written communication, verbal communication, visual communication, and exercising power or influence.

The Charities Act

Further changes to the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 will come into effect this year. Key updates include:

• The publication of charity accounts and trustee names on the Scottish Charity Register.
• New rules on automatic disqualification from being a charity trustee or having a senior management function within a charity.

Downloads

Supporting materials are available to download. This includes briefings, guidance, presentations, and question and answer responses from recent webinars.

• Befriending Networks Briefing on PVG Changes – 19 March 2025 (.pdf)
• Disclosure Scotland Regulated Roles Guidance -18 March 2025 (.pdf)
• Changes to Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 slide deck (.pptx)
• Disclosure Act Webinar Q&A section (.docx)
• NEW: Volunteer Scotland Regulated Roles Checklist Protected Adults (.docx)
• NEW: Volunteer Scotland Regulated Roles Checklist Children (.docx)
• NEW: Volunteer Scotland Holding a Position of Responsibility Regulated Role Guidance (.pdf)
• Changes to Charity Law in Scotland slide deck (.pptx)
• Briefing Paper: Changes to Charity Law in 2025 (.docx)
• Charities Law Webinar Q&A section (.docx)

Actions you can take for the Disclosure (Scotland) Act

• Read this Volunteer Scotland blog post to find out more about the changes to the Disclosure Act.
• Download and read Volunteer Scotland guidance on Regulated Work. This includes checklists for working with children and protected adults.
• Read this Disclosure Scotland news update from 18 March 2025 which includes links to guidance
• Attend a Volunteer Scotland info session to learn about the new disclosure legislation and ask questions (taking place through March, April and May)
• Attend an informal drop-in session to chat about the upcoming changes with the Volunteer Scotland team (taking place through March, April and May, no booking required)
• Email the VSDS Compliance and Training team to help you assess regulated roles in your circumstances
• Use the Disclosure Scotland online checker tool to determine if a role requires a PVG
• Attend a Disclosure Scotland event on regulated roles and/or get ready for the Disclosure (Scotland) Act