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In the Guardian yesterday:

Children’s care homes rely on committed people – While there are good private children’s homes (I’ve worked with some), they are defined by personal and family commitment, not profit. The same relationships are required whoever runs a children’s home, whether a charitable organisation or local authority. Without the personal, unflinching commitment of councillors, managers, social workers and, crucially, the grownups who work in the home, it can’t be a loving home.

We have been led to believe that regulation and inspection ensure good care. Do they? No. A reliance on such “quality” standards and monitoring has in part led us to this absurd situation. 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/17/childrens-care-homes-rely-on-committed-people

That’s surely wrong. Regulation and inspection has been notably absent or weak in England. That’s a major reason for their horrific mass abuse of children over decades.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in England provides a point-in-time check. It catches prior convictions/barring but not unreported behaviour, grooming without records, or post-check offending. The Update Service is not fully real-time or automatic, unlike Scotland’s PVG scheme. Recent cases have highlighted delays in reflecting arrests/police information.

What is Scotland’s PVG?

The Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme helps ensure people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do regulated roles. It’s a five-year membership scheme. Disclosure Scotland continuously checks members’ criminal history information. It also keeps lists of people barred from regulated roles.³

There have been no equivalent recent example of publicized large-scale nursery staff abuse scandals in Scotland matching the English cases appearing in media reporting. We’d know about it, if there was the slightest whiff of one.

When was the Scottish PVG scheme launched and by whom?

The Scottish PVG (Protecting Vulnerable Groups) scheme was launched by the Scottish Government on 28 February 2011. It was established under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, which received Royal Assent in 2007 and came into effect in stages, with the full membership scheme going live in 2011.

The scheme was Scotland’s response to the Bichard Inquiry, following the 2002 Soham murders in England. The inquiry recommended a registration scheme with continuous updating for people working with children and protected adults. The 2007 Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament during the first SNP minority government led by First Minister Alex Salmond.

This should be big news in Scotland because if it was the other way round we’d never hear the end of it.

Sources:

1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c862jy76y21o
2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c621zwn21xyohttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c621zwn21xyo
3. https://www.mygov.scot/apply-to-pvg-scheme

Help Talking-up Scotland keep going

Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going

Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421