Safe Sport / PVG Scheme / Suitability Decision Making Procedures
PVG and the Suitability Decision Making Procedures
How we process a PVG Scheme application and make a decision on the suitability of the applicant.
Updated on 17 April 2025
Introduction
Safe recruitment of both paid and unpaid individuals is essential for wellbeing and protection practices. Conducting PVG checks for those working or volunteering with children and/or protected adults is a key component. This information is used as part of the Suitability Decision for their appointment in a Regulated Role.
Our approach ensures that unsuitable individuals are prevented from working with vulnerable groups. This document focuses on arrangements for affiliated clubs but equally applies to all individuals facilitating hockey activities, such as Scottish Hockey employed staff, event organizers, districts, and discipline groups.
Roles and responsibilities
Scottish Hockey
Scottish Hockey is committed to safeguarding everyone involved in hockey activities and promoting the highest standards of care. To effectively implement this policy, all hockey providers must collaborate, each playing a crucial role in ensuring the safe recruitment of individuals into clubs registered with Scottish Hockey, whether they are volunteers or paid staff.
Scottish Hockey is enrolled directly with Disclosure Scotland for the purpose of accessing PVG disclosure records.
Affiliated bodies
The role of Scottish Hockey affiliated bodies (club or District) is to ensure that they use the Safe Recruitment process for individuals who are offered a regulated role with children and/or protected adults by completing a suitability assessment; application form, interview, references, a self-declaration and a PVG application.
Safeguarding Officers and PVG Processors
The Safeguarding Officer may not be responsible for carrying out all elements of the Safe Recruitment process. However, they are responsible for ensuring the club undertakes the safety checks and for confirming this process has been completed when making a PVG application request to Scottish Hockey.
The Suitability Decision Making Process
On receipt of the PVG disclosure, Scottish Hockey will assess the information it contains and make the suitability decision in accordance with these procedures.
The suitability decision is based on the club’s confirmation that is has undertaken all other parts of the safer recruitment process to check their suitability and wish to appoint them to a role, pending the outcome of the PVG check. The suitability outcome given by Scottish Hockey will fall into 1 of 3 outcomes:
- The PVG check is satisfactory and the club can proceed with the appointment
- This applies to PVG results that are clear of contain non-relevant conviction information or non-relevant non-conviction information
- The PVG check returned information that is relevant and significantly serious that no appointment can be made, and the club can not proceed with the appointment. This person will be disqualified from working in a regulated role with Scottish Hockey and its affiliated bodies (whether paid or voluntary).
- The PVG result contains relevant convictions or relevant non-conviction information or indicates the individual is listed or barred from work with children and/or protected adults.
- The PVG result contains relevant convictions or relevant non-conviction information or indicates the individual is listed or barred from work with children and/or protected adults.
- The PVG check returned information that is relevant and further information is required to determine if appointment can proceed – A Suitability Assessment Meeting is required.
- This applies to PVG results that indicate a member is under consideration for listing. This person will be disqualified from working in a regulated role with children within a Scottish Hockey and its affiliated bodies (whether paid or voluntary) until such times as the nature of disclosed information and its relevance to the post applied for is discussed and assessed.
- Conviction information – relevance and seriousness require to be determined
- Non-conviction information – relevance and seriousness require to be determined
- This applies to PVG results that indicate a member is under consideration for listing. This person will be disqualified from working in a regulated role with children within a Scottish Hockey and its affiliated bodies (whether paid or voluntary) until such times as the nature of disclosed information and its relevance to the post applied for is discussed and assessed.
Please note, that non-conviction relevant information is intelligence held by Police Scotland. When an applicant applies for a PVG, any intelligence held on the applicant which is deemed to be relevant to the type of regulated work will be documented on the PVG certificate in typed text.
Contact us
If you have a query regarding this policy, please do get in touch.
Safe Sport
Phone
+44 (0)7561 853471