Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007

Offences relating to vetting information

65Falsification of scheme records etc.

(1)It is an offence for a person, with intent to deceive, to—

(a)make a document which purports to be a disclosure record,

(b)alter a disclosure record,

(c)use, or allow another person to use, a disclosure record in a way which suggests that it relates to an individual other than the scheme member in respect of whom it was disclosed.

(2)It is an offence for a person to knowingly make a false or misleading declaration or other statement for the purposes of—

(a)obtaining, or enabling another person to obtain, a disclosure record, or

(b)satisfying Ministers that an individual who is doing regulated work is not doing so.

66Unlawful disclosure of scheme records etc.

(1)A person to whom disclosure information is disclosed under section 51, 52, 53 or 54 commits an offence if the person discloses it to any other person.

(2)A person does not commit an offence under subsection (1) by disclosing the disclosure information—

(a)to any of the person’s employees,

(b)where the person is not an individual, to any member or officer of the person, or

(c)where the disclosure was made for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to consider a scheme member’s suitability to do, or to be offered or supplied for, regulated work—

(i)to that other person,

(ii)to any of that other person’s employees, or

(iii)where that other person is not an individual, to any member or officer of that other person.

(3)An individual to whom disclosure information is disclosed lawfully by virtue of subsection (2)(a) or (b) or (4)(a) commits an offence if the individual discloses it to any other person.

(4)An individual does not commit an offence under subsection (3) by disclosing the disclosure information, in the course of the individual’s duties—

(a)to any other individual who is a member, officer or employee of the person to whom the corresponding disclosure was made under section 52, 53 or 54, or

(b)where the disclosure was made for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to consider a scheme member’s suitability to do, or to be offered or supplied for, regulated work—

(i)to that other person,

(ii)to any of that other person’s employees, or

(iii)where that other person is not an individual, to any member or officer of that other person.

(5)A person to whom disclosure information is disclosed lawfully by virtue of subsection (2)(c)(i) or (4)(b)(i) commits an offence if the person discloses it to any other person.

(6)A person does not commit an offence under subsection (5) by disclosing the disclosure information—

(a)to any of the person’s employees, or

(b)where the person is not an individual, to any member or officer of the person.

(7)An individual to whom disclosure information is disclosed lawfully by virtue of subsection (2)(c)(ii) or (iii), (4)(b)(ii) or (iii) or (6) commits an offence if the person discloses it to any other person.

(8)An individual does not commit an offence under subsection (7) by disclosing the disclosure information, in the course of the individual’s duties, to any other individual who is a member, officer or employee of the person for whose purposes the corresponding disclosure was made under section 52, 53 or 54.

(9)A person to whom disclosure information is disclosed unlawfully commits an offence if the person discloses it to any other person.

67Unlawful requests for scheme records etc.

(1)It is an offence to request provision of, or to otherwise seek sight of, a disclosure record for a purpose other than the permitted purpose.

(2)It is an offence to use disclosure information for a purpose other than the permitted purpose.

(3)The permitted purpose is to enable or assist a person (“Z”) to consider the suitability of the individual to whom the record or information relates—

(a)to do, or to be offered or supplied for, the type of regulated work to which the disclosure record relates, or

(b)to do that type of regulated work in prescribed circumstances for any person other than Z in pursuance of arrangements under which services are provided to Z.

(4)References in subsection (1) to disclosure records do not include references to information included in disclosure records.

68Unlawful disclosure etc.: supplementary

(1)Nothing in section 66 prevents disclosure of disclosure information—

(a)by the scheme member to whom the information relates,

(b)by any other person with the consent of the scheme member to whom the information relates,

(c)to an office-holder in the Scottish Administration or a government department,

(d)to a person appointed to any office by virtue of any enactment,

(e)in accordance with any obligation to provide information imposed by virtue of any enactment,

(f)for the purposes of answering a prescribed type of exempted question, or

(g)for some other prescribed purpose.

(2)Nothing in subsections (2), (4), (6) or (8) of section 66 makes lawful any disclosure of disclosure information made otherwise than for the purpose of enabling or assisting the person in relation to whom the corresponding disclosure request was made to consider the suitability of the scheme member concerned to do, or to be offered or supplied for, the type of regulated work concerned.

(3)Nothing in section 67 prevents use of disclosure information for a purpose other than the permitted purpose—

(a)by the scheme member to whom the information relates,

(b)by any other person with the consent of the scheme member to whom the information relates,

(c)by an office-holder in the Scottish Administration or a government department,

(d)by a person appointed to any office by virtue of any enactment,

(e)in accordance with any obligation to provide information imposed by virtue of any enactment,

(f)in order to answer a prescribed type of exempted question, or

(g)in any other prescribed circumstances.

(4)References in sections 66 and 67 and in this section to disclosure information are references to—

(a)disclosure records disclosed under section 52, 53 or 54, and

(b)any information in such a disclosure record which is obtained only by virtue of section 51, 52, 53 or 54.

(5)“Exempted question”, where used in subsections (1)(f) and (3)(f), means a question in relation to which section 4(2)(a) or (b) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (c. 53) has been excluded by order made under section 4(4) of that Act.

69Penalties for offences relating to vetting information

A person guilty of an offence under section 65, 66 or 67 is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.