Sensitive information could have been mistakenly sent to Glasgow City Council regarding staff members, an audit report has revealed.
The issue with reports from the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme could include information about criminal convictions being wrongly sent to the council.
The PVG scheme is managed by Disclosure Scotland and helps ensure people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do regulated work with these vulnerable groups.
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This means the council will receive any relevant information, such as criminal convictions, cautions and court orders about a person who is a registered PVG member.
But if that person moves onto an “unregulated role” where a PVG check is not required the council should inform Disclosure Scotland otherwise they might receive information about members of staff they shouldn’t have.
As it stands the local authority's catering and facilities management (CFM) and education services (EDS) teams do not inform Disclosure Scotland of any staff member who stops working in a PVG checked position.
Glasgow’s social work services (SWS) does inform Disclosure Scotland of a person’s decision to move into an “unregulated position” - but no record is made of this.
During Wednesday’s committee meeting, a council officer said: “This is a very important area. Over the course of the last six months we have looked at arrangements in education, social work and Catering FM.
“These are the main areas of the council where PVG requirements are most common.
“Most of the key elements are in place and pretty well established; however we also did identify some areas of concern leading to an overall “limited assurance opinion”.
“For example while Catering FM and education don’t proactively inform Disclosure Scotland when a person moves role or leaves which is a requirement in the regulation.”
The report also laid out some suggestions which would allow these services to improve and move forward.
HR management teams should ensure that guidance is updated to ensure the correct procedures are followed when someone leaves the PVG scheme.
Glasgow City Council has confirmed that it will update Disclosure Scotland when a person moves into an unregulated role.
A council spokesperson said: “A spokesman said: “The council has already responded to the findings by introducing additional information to guidance and procedures followed when employees transfer roles or leave the council; stressing the need to be aware of when PVG Scheme or Disclosure Scotland registration is no longer required.”
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