Regulated Role

Roles that require a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme membership when facilitating activities for children and/or protected adults.

Updated on 29 April 2025

Introduction

The Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme is managed by Disclosure Scotland. It helps ensure people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do regulated work with these vulnerable groups.

The new definition of a regulated role under the PVG Act considers whether an individual:

is doing an activity mentioned in Part 2 of schedule 3 and/or schedule 4 of the PVG Act.
and
is carrying out the activity in Scotland as a necessary part of their role and has contact with children and/or protected adults. Whether with children or protected adults, contact must be more than incidental and includes:

physical contact
visual contact – (can include sign language)
written contact
verbal contact and
exercising power or influence over those groups

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.

Scottish Hockey acts as the ‘employer’ when processing PVG applications on behalf of affiliated bodies, acting as the employer and suitability decision maker on behalf of those affiliated or in its care.

For guidance on how Scottish Hockey implements this area of Safe Recruitment, please refer to the PVG and the Suitability Decision Making Procedures as part of Safe Recruitment Policy.

Regulated Roles

The following positions have been identified in agreement with Disclosure Scotland as regulated roles within Scottish Hockey, requiring a PVG disclosure when facilitating activities for children and/or protected adults.

Safeguarding Officer
Coach
inc. Head Coach, Youth Coach, Assistant Coach
Team Manager
Team Captain
Committee Member
inc. treasurer, secretary, social media convenor
Board of Trustee Director
inc. Chair, Co-opted Member
Member of Staff
inc. Development Officer, Club Manager, Director of Hockey
Youth Leader
Helper
inc. Parent Helper, Chaperone, Ball Patrol Manager, Steward, and Event Volunteers
Activity Coordinator
inc. Walking Hockey Coorindator, Disability Hockey Coordinator, Social Hockey Coordinator, Back to Hockey Coordinator
Physio
First Aider

This list will replace the previous 7 (Assistant Development Officer, Child Protection Officer, Development Officer, Parent Helper, Physiotherapy, Youth Coach, Youth Manager). If someone is doing Regulated Work with an ‘old’ role title, they will still be PVG certified in that role until they stop doing that role and are removed from the Scheme.

If there is a role not listed above that you feel is deserving of a PVG Scheme membership, or:

Anyone who may be in contact with children U18 as part of their normal duties
Anyone who may be in contact with protected adults as part of their normal duties,

Please contact the Scottish Hockey Safe Sport team so the role can be assessed.

Committee Members

Though we have added ‘Committee Members’ to our approved list of Regulated Roles, it is important to note that not all club Committee Members will require or be eligible for PVG membership. The conditions will very much depend on if the role meets the criteria detailed below and the governance structure of your club.

Considerations you should make:

Is the person’s role a “position of responsibility” as a necessary part of their role?
Is one of the club’s main purposes the provision of benefits to children, protected adults or both?
Do they have physical contact with children or protected adults as a necessary part of their rile or do they have visual, written or verbal communications with children and/or protected adults as a necessary part of their role?
If no to step 3, does this role involve exercising power or influence over children or protected adults as a necessary part of their role? (Note that exercising power and influence means any of the following:
1. Assisting, facilitating, permitting or impeding progress towards a desirable objective or outcome for a particular child or protected adult,
2. Making decisions of an operational or strategic nature that could have an impact on a number of children or protected adults, or
3. Persuading or putting pressure on a particular child or protected adult to behave or act in a certain manner for the financial gain or personal gratification of a person other than the protected adult.

If the specified criteria are not met, a Committee Member does not need a PVG Scheme membership.

If the criteria are met and your committee operates with a flat structure, where all members have equal voting rights, then all members will require a PVG Scheme membership.

However, if the criteria are met and your committee has a single person in a position of authority (such as a President or Chair), then only that individual will require a PVG Scheme membership.

Additionally, if a Committee Member also serves as a Coach and already holds a PVG Scheme membership for their coaching role, they do not need an additional PVG Scheme membership for their committee role.

If you feel that some or all of your Committee Members meet the criteria for being a Regulated Role, please contact the Safe Sport team if you would like to talk this through.

Regulated Roles as part of Safe Recruitment Policy

Contact us

If there is a role not listed that may be deserving of a PVG Scheme membership or are unsure if a role requires a PVG, please contact the Scottish Hockey Safe Sport team.

Safe Sport

Email

[email protected]

Phone

+44 (0)7561 853471