It is Thursday evening, three days before your PTA's summer disco. The rota is full, the music is booked, the decorations are ready. Then someone asks: "Do we have PVG checks for everyone supervising?" The answer is no, or not all of them, or you are not sure. Half your volunteers now cannot work the event. You are scrambling to find replacements who are already cleared, or worse, you are running the disco short staffed while children wander unsupervised between activities. This is the moment every volunteer-led group dreads, and it happens because PVG checks were left until it was too late.

This is the full guide for PTAs, parent councils and community committees. If you are a volunteer who just wants to know whether your role needs a check and what happens next, start with our quick reference for volunteers.

Every children's activity runs on volunteers. The same parents and community members who staff the tuck shop, supervise youth club activities, coach sports sessions, run drama rehearsals, lead Scouts meetings, work at community centre events and drive children to away trips are the reason these activities happen at all. Keeping the children in their care safe is not optional admin. It is a legal requirement. In Scotland, that means the PVG scheme. It is also the job committees most often leave too late, because nothing about it feels urgent until the week before an event when half your rota is not cleared and panic sets in.

The rules changed in April 2025, and they are stricter than many committees realise. This guide explains what any community group, PTA, youth organisation, sports club, arts group or volunteer-led group needs to know, why PVG checks should be the first job of your year and how to build a system that makes this easy rather than painful.

What changed in 2025: from optional to mandatory

PVG membership used to be something organisations chose to require, a best practice recommendation that committees could interpret with some flexibility. Since April 2025, that changed completely. PVG membership is now a legal requirement for anyone carrying out a regulated role with children, whether paid or voluntary. This is no longer a judgement call for committees. You cannot decide that your group is small enough, informal enough or low risk enough to skip it. If the role is regulated, the volunteer must have PVG membership for your organisation before they start. There are no exceptions.

From April 2026, PVG membership lasts five years and must be renewed. This means committees need to track not just who has a disclosure, but when each membership expires, so renewals do not slip through the cracks.

The practical impact for volunteer-led groups is this: if you have been running events without checking your volunteers, or if you have been relying on informal assurances that someone "probably has a PVG from work", you are now operating outside the law. The 2025 changes removed any grey area. Regulated roles require PVG membership. Full stop.

Who needs a PVG check: understanding regulated roles

This guidance applies to any volunteer-led group managing children's activities, whether you are a parent council, PTA, youth club, sports club, community centre, drama, music organisation, or any other community organisation. The PVG rules are the same regardless of your group's type or setting.

A volunteer needs PVG membership when their role involves one of the regulated activities defined in law and contact with children is a necessary part of it. For volunteer-run groups, this typically means:

  • Running children's activities where you are supervising them
  • Coaching or instructing children in sports, arts, music or other activities
  • Staffing a tuck shop, refreshment stall or similar where children come to you unsupervised
  • Escorting children to away matches, trips or other off-site activities
  • Providing first aid at children's events
  • Running a breakfast club, after-school activity or holiday programme
  • Supervising children at a Christmas fair, summer fete, sports day or community event
  • Being in a standby pool of volunteers who might cover any of these roles

Frequency does not matter. A volunteer who runs an activity once a year needs the same PVG check as someone who does it weekly.

Roles that usually do not need a PVG check

Not every volunteer role is regulated. These typically do not require a PVG disclosure:

  • Setting up or taking down equipment when children are not present
  • Handling money or admin with no direct contact with children
  • Attending committee meetings to plan events
  • Selling raffle tickets to adults at an event where you are not supervising children

The distinction matters in both directions. Requesting a PVG check for a role that does not need one is an offence under the PVG Act, just as failing to check someone in a regulated role is. This is why the assessment process is so important.

The five step assessment: how to decide

Disclosure Scotland publishes guidance written specifically for parent run groups, with a five step check. Run every volunteer role through these steps.

Step 1: Does the role take place in your organisation or venue with an opportunity for unsupervised contact with children?

Example: running the tuck shop at lunchtime where children come to you without a teacher present. You need a PVG check.

Step 2: Does the role involve common activities with children like having responsibility for their safety, teaching, caring for them, providing leisure activities, coaching sport or driving and escorting them?

Example: supervising the bouncy castle at the summer fair, responsible for children's safety. You need a PVG check.

Step 3: Does the role involve another activity listed in Schedule 2 of the PVG Act?

Check the schedule if you are unsure. If the answer to all three questions so far is no, the role is not regulated. Stop here.

Step 4: Is contact with children a necessary part of the role?

Example: running a breakfast club where you serve food to children and supervise them. Contact is necessary. You need a PVG check.

Step 5: Does the role involve exercising power and influence over children?

Example: coordinating a breakfast club, deciding activities and operations even if you are not there daily. You need a PVG check.

Write it down and assess it

For every volunteer role, write a short description and run it through the five steps. Keep these assessments on file. If you are unsure about a role, err on the side of caution and request the check. But if genuinely uncertain, contact Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services for advice before submitting.

Remember: it is an offence under the PVG Act to request a disclosure for a role that is not regulated.

What it costs and how long it takes

For volunteers, the answer should be nothing. Volunteer-run community groups, including volunteer-led groups and PTAs, generally count as qualifying voluntary organisations if they are not for profit and not run by the school or local authority as a formal service. If your group meets these criteria, PVG disclosures for your volunteers are free through Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services. You will need to enrol your organisation with them first.

How long does it take?

Applications are now fully online, but you still need to allow a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks from submission to confirmation. In busy periods, typically September and October, it can take longer. Plan for six weeks and treat anything faster as a bonus.

The process is only finished when your group has received the confirmation. Until then, the volunteer cannot start in a regulated role. This means:

  • Do not submit an application the week before an event
  • Do not assume it is probably fine if you have not seen the confirmation
  • Do not let a volunteer start because the application is in progress

Keep a simple tracker of who you have submitted applications for and when. Check in with Volunteer Scotland if an application is approaching eight weeks with no update.

One disclosure per organisation: why you cannot transfer checks

PVG membership belongs to the person. A disclosure belongs to the relationship between that person and one organisation.

This means you need a separate disclosure for each group you volunteer or work for. Only that group can request your disclosure. A disclosure for one organisation does not transfer to another, even if both are volunteer-led groups at the same school.

A teacher at your school has PVG membership through their employment but wants to volunteer with your group. They need a new disclosure. Their PVG membership as a teacher is linked to their employer. Your group is a separate organisation. You need to request a disclosure for them specifically for your group. Because they are already a PVG member, the process is faster. It is an update rather than a new application.

The system is designed so that each organisation takes responsibility for the volunteers it engages. Your group needs to know that the people working your events have been checked specifically for your group. If a volunteer's circumstances change, the organisation that requested their disclosure is notified.

When to do it: build your system at the start of your activity cycle

The answer is simple: at the start of your activity cycle (whenever that is for your group), before you need it. Disclosure Scotland's own advice to volunteer groups is to document your volunteer roles, plan your year's activities in advance and build a pool of checked volunteers you can draw on throughout the year.

At your first committee meeting of the year

At your first committee meeting of the year, make PVG checks the first substantive item on the agenda:

  1. List every volunteer role your group uses with a one sentence description
  2. Assess which roles are regulated using the five step check
  3. Ask who already holds a disclosure for your group and check expiry dates
  4. Identify gaps and submit applications immediately
  5. Keep a simple record: volunteer name, role, confirmation date, expiry date

Anyone in a standby pool who might cover a regulated role needs a PVG check, not just the person who usually does it.

Even better: start at the beginning of your cycle

The start of your activity cycle is the latest sensible starting point, not the ideal one. If your current committee is winding down before your quieter season, submitting applications at the end of the year leaves a good legacy for the incoming committee. The new committee starts the year with a cleared volunteer pool instead of a backlog.

At intake time: catch new members

When new members arrive at your intake time, ask early who would like to volunteer. Include a simple form in the welcome pack: "Would you like to volunteer? We will start your PVG check now so you are ready to help when the time comes." This means your volunteer pool grows each year as new members join.

What if you did not start at the beginning of your cycle?

If you have not done any of this yet, do not panic. You can still catch up:

  1. Do the assessment today
  2. Submit applications now
  3. Plan around confirmed volunteers only for upcoming activities
  4. Commit to doing it properly at the start of your next cycle

The groups that find PVG checks painful are the ones doing it under pressure. The groups that find it easy planned ahead in their cycle.

The difference between pressure and ease

The pressure scenario: It is Wednesday, disco is Saturday. You have twelve volunteers but only three are definitely cleared. You spend three days chasing confirmations that have not arrived, calling parents, considering cancellation. The event happens but it is stressful, understaffed and you worry you have done something wrong. You have.

The ease scenario: At the start of your cycle, you spend thirty minutes listing roles and submitting applications. Within six weeks, all confirmations have arrived. When the next event rota goes up, you already know everyone is cleared. The big event of the season is fully staffed. No one is chasing applications or worrying. The event runs smoothly.

The difference is not the volunteers, the events or the rules. The difference is timing.

The checklist: your step by step process

  • List every volunteer role with a short description
  • Assess each role against the five step check and keep this on file
  • Ask who already holds a PVG disclosure for your group and check expiry dates
  • Enrol with Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services if you have not already
  • Submit applications early, at the start of your cycle at the latest and never the week before an event
  • Verify confirmation for every applicant before they start
  • Keep a simple record: name, role, confirmation date, expiry date
  • Recruit new members at intake time and start their disclosures immediately
  • Review your list at the start of every year

You can do this

If you are feeling overwhelmed, take a breath. This is manageable. The PVG scheme exists to protect children, and it works. The process is straightforward once you understand it. The key is not to leave it until you are under pressure.

If you are starting from scratch: read Disclosure Scotland's guidance for parent run groups. List your roles. Assess which are regulated. Enrol with Volunteer Scotland. Submit applications. Allow six weeks. Keep a record.

If you are mid year and behind: do the assessment today. Submit applications now. Plan your next event around volunteers who are already cleared. Commit to doing it properly at the start of your next cycle.

If you are already doing this well: keep going. Review your records annually. Catch new members early. Renew memberships before they expire.

The committees that find this easy are not lucky or better organised. They just did it early. You can too.