Removing Criminal Convictions

Removing a Conviction from your PVG Record

The Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG Scheme) is managed by Disclosure Scotland. The purpose of the PVG Scheme is to ensure that people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do regulated work with vulnerable groups. The type of work which is regulated includes jobs (which include volunteers) such as:-

• Teachers and School Staff
• Doctors, Dentists and Nurses
• Carers
• Volunteering with Children or Protected Adults.
• Trustees of Charities with a particular focus on children or protected adults
• Coaching at sports clubs such as football or hockey etc.

It can be extremely embarrassing if someone has applied for a job or has volunteered for a coaching role only to find their PVG Certificate discloses a criminal conviction. Indeed many people who may have convictions might be put off applying for certain jobs or volunteering because they know it could lead to the PVG Certificate disclosing something they did wrong many years ago.

Removal of Criminal Convictions from your PVG Scheme Record.

If you have a criminal conviction and you believe it is no longer relevant to the work or the volunteering that you want to undertake then you can apply to the Court to have that conviction removed from your PVG Scheme Record.

If the conviction is one which must be disclosed then the only way to have that removed is for at least fifteen years to have passed if you were 18 or over when you were convicted, or at least seven years and six months if you were convicted whilst you were under the age of 18 years. In all other cases, it is simply checking to see whether or not the conviction is spent and if it is and it is no longer relevant to the work or volunteering that you intend to do, then you can make an Application to the Court to have that conviction removed.

A point that may well be of concern to someone applying to the Court is whether or not the press will get hold of the Application and will publicise details of the criminal offence. If for example, you are a school teacher and you committed an offence whilst you were a student at University, that offence may well show up on your PVG Scheme Record. The last thing you would want is to make an Application to the Court to have your personal details splashed all over the press and to have the regurgitation of the events which led to the criminal conviction. The legislation and the court rules allow for an Application to be made so that the Applicant is anonymised and publication of the Applicant’s details are prohibited.

If you are interested in checking to see whether or not you could have your criminal conviction removed from your PVG Scheme Record then please contact John Kydd.