PVG Scheme Scotland: What Foster Carers Need to Know

If you're applying to foster in Scotland, you'll need to join the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme — Scotland's vetting system for anyone working with children or protected adults. It's not the same as the DBS check used in England and Wales, and the differences matter in ways that often surprise applicants.

Most fostering guides gloss over this. Here's the full picture.

What the PVG Scheme Is

The Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme is a membership scheme managed by Disclosure Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government. It replaced the older Standard and Enhanced Disclosure system for roles involving regulated work with vulnerable groups.

"Regulated work" with children includes fostering. Every adult in your household over the age of 16 will need to be a member of the PVG Scheme before a child can be placed with you. This is non-negotiable — there are no exceptions for long-term partners, adult children living at home, or relatives who occasionally stay over.

How It Differs From a DBS Check

This distinction matters if you're familiar with the English system, or if you've previously been DBS checked for another role.

A DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check is essentially a point-in-time check. It searches your criminal record at the moment you apply and produces a certificate. Once issued, that certificate doesn't update — unless you subscribe to the DBS Update Service, which costs a separate annual fee and only applies to England and Wales.

The PVG Scheme is a membership model with continuous monitoring. Once you join, Disclosure Scotland maintains an ongoing watch. If new information is recorded — a new conviction, a police caution, or relevant information from any source — your employer or agency is automatically notified. The scheme doesn't wait for a renewal date.

For foster carers, the continuous monitoring aspect is significant. It means your agency has ongoing visibility of your vetting status throughout your approval — not just at the point of application. It also means any incident after approval that results in a police record will be flagged to your agency automatically.

What the PVG Check Covers

A PVG Scheme Record contains:

• Spent and unspent criminal convictions in Scotland
• Cautions and warnings
• Any information held by Disclosure Scotland about your suitability for regulated work (including information from police or other agencies that falls short of a conviction)
• Whether you are on the Children's List or Adults' List (the Scottish lists of people barred from regulated work)

Being on the Children's List is an absolute bar to fostering. Being barred from working with children means you cannot foster, full stop.

A criminal record that doesn't put you on the barred list is handled differently. The fostering agency reviews the disclosure in context: the nature of the offence, how long ago it occurred, and what it indicates about your current suitability. Minor, historic, or non-child-related offences often do not prevent approval.

How to Apply for PVG Membership

You don't apply directly to Disclosure Scotland as an individual for fostering purposes. Your fostering agency or local authority applies on your behalf once you've progressed past the initial stages of your application.

The process:

1. Your agency initiates a PVG Scheme Record Disclosure application on your behalf.
2. Disclosure Scotland searches its records and produces a PVG Scheme Record.
3. The record is shared with your agency. You also receive a copy.
4. Any relevant information is considered as part of your overall assessment.

How Much It Costs

As of 2026, a first-time PVG Scheme membership costs £18 for volunteers, or £59 for paid workers. However, for new foster carers, the Scottish Government has arrangements in place that often result in the fee being waived entirely — check with your agency when you start the process. Many local authorities and IFPs absorb the cost as part of their recruitment process.

Existing PVG members updating to a new scheme record (for example, because they're adding a new regulated role) pay a different fee.

What Happens If You Have a Criminal Record

Applicants with a criminal history frequently assume they're automatically disqualified. In most cases, they're not.

The PVG Scheme will surface any relevant record. What happens next depends on:

• The nature of the offence (violent, sexual, drug-related, or non-violent property offence)
• Whether children were involved
• How long ago it occurred
• What has changed since (evidence of rehabilitation, stable employment, community ties)

The fostering agency considers this as part of the holistic assessment. A historic shoplifting conviction or a road traffic offence from fifteen years ago is unlikely to end an application. A more recent or serious offence will be scrutinised more carefully, and the agency may seek additional information.

Being honest about your record at the outset — before the PVG check surfaces anything — works strongly in your favour. Agencies are far more troubled by omission than by the underlying information.

Maintaining Your Membership

Once you're an approved foster carer, your PVG membership continues for five years. During that time, continuous monitoring runs in the background. You don't need to renew separately — your agency manages the relationship with Disclosure Scotland.

If you transfer to a different fostering agency, your PVG Scheme Record can often be shared with the new agency. Check with your supervising social worker about the process for your specific situation.

A Note on Overseas Checks

If you or any member of your household has lived outside the UK for six months or more in the past five years, your fostering agency will also request an overseas police check from the relevant country. The PVG Scheme only covers Scottish (and in some cases UK-wide) records — it has no visibility of international criminal history.

Countries vary significantly in how quickly they produce these certificates. If this applies to you, flag it early and request the overseas check as soon as possible — delays here frequently extend the overall approval timeline.

The PVG Scheme is one piece of a layered vetting process. The Scotland Fostering Approval Guide covers what to expect at each stage — including how to handle the assessment period after your PVG record is received, and what the agency is actually evaluating when they review your disclosure.

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