Child protection

sportscotland fundamentally believes that child protection is everyone’s responsibility. Therefore everyone working, participating or volunteering in sport has a responsibility to ensure the safety and welfare of children in and through sport.

sportscotland is committed to working with Children 1st to support its partners in sport to develop robust child protection policies and procedures that will ensure all children can take part in sport safely and happily.

Child Protection in Sport Service

sportscotland and Children 1st work in partnership to deliver the Child Protection in Sport Service. This service supports sport organisations to develop and promote a positive environment for children taking part in sport.

Sports organisations can access all of the information they need to develop a child protection in sport programme, or about child protection issues more generally, from the website of the Child Protection in Sport Service.

Visit the Child Protection in Sport Service website to find:

• Information on the 2006 Accord on Protecting Children in Scottish Sport, which provides a framework for sports organisations working to put a child protection programme in place
• Guidance on developing a child protection policy for your governing body or club;
• Guidance on what to do if you are concerned about the welfare of a child
• Information on how to book a child protection in sport training course – either ‘Good Practice and Child Protection’ or ‘In Safe Hands – Child Protection Training for Club Officers’
• Information on the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003, and what this means for your organisation
• Information on the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, and how this will affect the child protection landscape in Scotland
• Information on how to sign up to receive the Child Protection in Sport e-newsletter
• Information on the Scottish governing bodies and local authority child protection officers groups, and how to join
• Information on safe recruitment of employees and volunteers, including carrying out Disclosure Scotland checks.
• Answers to a wide range of frequently asked questions about protecting children in sport.

The Scottish Government’s child protection web pages also contain a wealth of information about the legal and policy background to child protection more generally in Scotland.

Disclosure Scotland checks

Disclosure Scotland is a service designed to enhance public safety by providing potential employers and organisations within the voluntary sector with criminal history information on individuals applying for posts. Disclosure Scotland issues certificates - known as "Disclosures" - which give details of an individual's criminal convictions (and in the case of Enhanced Disclosures, where appropriate, non-conviction information) or state that they have none.

Disclosure Scotland checks are implemented as part of a procedure that enables all staff, coaches, volunteers and leaders to be vetted. These checks should form part of the wider process of recruitment and selection. More details on recruitment processes can be found in the Child Protection section of the Help for Clubs website. For example, references for staff, coaches and volunteers should also be taken up prior to them working with children, as these could identify something about the individual’s character that may not be picked up from a Disclosure Scotland Check. It is important to remember that Disclosure checks are only one element of the safe recruitment process.

Sports organisations should ensure that any employee or volunteer who will be working with children or vulnerable adults has been through an appropriate Disclosure check before commencing employment. More information can be found on the Disclosure Scotland website.

The Central Registered Body in Scotland (CRBS) was established by the Scottish Executive to provide free Disclosure checks for volunteers in the voluntary sector working with children and young people. Voluntary sports organisations can find out how to register with the CRBS and obtain free Disclosure checks for sports volunteers on the CRBS website.

Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007

The PVG Act 2007 delivers the principal recommendation of the Bichard Inquiry Report into the Soham murders, which called for a registration system for all those who work with children and protected adults.

The PVG Act will deliver:

• A robust vetting and barring scheme that will safeguard children and protected adults by keeping people who would harm them out of caring positions
• A fair and consistent system that will be easy and quick for people to understand and use.

The scheme will help to ensure that people who have demonstrated through past behaviour that they pose an unacceptable risk, do not gain access to children or protected adults through the workplace or through volunteering.

The PVG Act will introduce a new electronic scheme record system that will be continuously updated. This will make it easier to identify people who become unsuitable, delivering an additional tool for employers to use to help them to make informed and safe recruitment decisions.

The Act will strengthen protection for adults through the creation (for the first time in Scotland) of a list of people who are barred from working/volunteering with protected adults. A list of those who are barred from working/volunteering with children (which will replace the existing Disqualified from Working with Children List) and the new adults list will be managed by a new Central Barring Unit (CBU). This unit and Disclosure Scotland will provide a joined up and streamlined service.

The CBU will determine who should be barred from regulated work with vulnerable groups. While the CBU will take decisions about people's unsuitability to work with vulnerable groups, employers will still need to decide who is suitable to work with them, having considered all relevant recruitment information.

The Act will make it an offence for organisations to permit a person who is barred from working or volunteering with vulnerable groups to undertake such work. People who become unsuitable while employed (paid or voluntary) in the regulated workforce will be removed quickly from their post.

The Scottish Government is developing the detail of the new vetting and barring scheme during 2008. It is expected that the new scheme will go live in the summer of 2009.

Further information on the PVG Act can be obtained from the Scottish Government’s website.

Information on the implications of the PVG Act for sport can be obtained from the Child Protection in Sport Service (CPSS).

The links to both websites can be accessed from this page.