Wellbeing and Protection

PVG and Safesport

The Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) membership scheme helps ensure that people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do regulated work with these vulnerable groups.

PVGs are Mandatory

From 1st April 2025, it is a criminal offence to start a regulated role without a PVG. The responsibility lies with the individual and the club jointly to comply.

Clubs must ensure no member begins a regulated role before their PVG is confirmed by Scottish Cycling.

To apply for PVG, the applicant must complete a PVG Application Form through our JustGo system. During this process the Club ID Checker will be required to verify the applicants ID. This process is detailed below.

Who Needs a PVG?

Those who are applying for a Regulated Role in your club/group/association require a PVG check before starting in the role.

If they are PVG member through another organisation, eg work, another sport, then they will require to complete PVG Scheme Record Update application through us.

If they are a PVG member with another Scottish Cycling club, then they will require to apply to us by adding an PVG Application credential on JustGo, we will then add the new club to their profile. You are not permitted to undertake regulated work for other Scottish Cycling clubs without informing us.

The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 introduced new assessment criteria for regulated roles. As a result, some Scottish Cycling roles that were previously non-regulated will now be classified as regulated.

Regulated Roles

Club Committee – this section relates to committees of clubs with Under-18s or Protected Adults as members.
Role PVG Required
A general committee that makes decisions on behalf of the entire club/group/association; both youth and adult sections. Yes
The youth sub-group of a committee who make strategic and operational decision that affect children/protected adults. Yes
The committee are a part of a club/group/association which has a youth and adult section. The committee do not make strategic or operational decisions that affect children or protected adults, they simply ratify decisions taken by the youth sub-group/committee. No
* Committees in clubs that do not have children or Protected Adult members do not require PVG.

 

Role PVG Required?
Coach/MTB Leader/Ride Leader delivering activity for children or protected adults Yes
Activity Helper for children or protected adults Yes
Youth activity coordinator/Head Coach Yes
Commissaire No
Event Organiser for events that include children or protected adult No
Youth Event Photographer No
Race Mechanic during youth race No
Event Marshal No
Event registration No
Trail Therapy Volunteer Yes

 

If you have other roles not on this list please contact the Scottish Cycling Safeguarding team: [email protected]

PVG Check Process

In order for clubs to apply for PVG through Scottish Cycling, they must first:
  • Adopt, sign and upload the PVG Processing Contract to their clubs’ JustGo profile by adding the ‘PVG Contract credential’.
  • Add the ID Checker credential to their personal profile on JustGo and then add the ID Checker role to their profile by scrolling to ‘My Club’ and ‘Club Members’.
The process for PVG applications is as follows:
  1. Club completes recruitment process for a regulated role, ie application, interview (formal or informal), references and decides to employ (paid or voluntary) an individual.
  2. Club Admin sends applicant the link to register with JustGo: Signup – JustGo or Club Admin registers person with JustGo by ‘Adding New Member’.
  3. WPO prompts applicant to add a ‘PVG Application’ credential to their account. To do this, login to JustGo, click ‘My Profile’, then ‘Credentials’ (this can be found by clicking ‘more’ on the mobile website), then ‘Add Credential’, scroll to PVG Application – Affiliated Club, Group or Association and add this.
  4. Applicant completes PVG Application credential information and clicks ‘save’.
  5. Club WPO reviews PVG Application credential and completes ID verification part of the form. To view forms that are ‘Pending Approval’, Club ID Checkers should logon to JustGo, click ‘Menu’, under My Club select ‘Credentials’, under Credential Status select ‘Pending Approval’. To view the credential click on the icon on the right of the screen, complete the required section, then click ‘Save’. This will submit the form. Please also check the correct information has been submitted, particularly for ‘Which vulnerable group they are applying to work with’, many people are unnecessarily ticking ‘both’.
  6. We receive this information and submit application to Disclosure Scotland (DS).
  7. DS send an email to the applicant to complete the PVG Application process. The email for this may go to junk/spam and the link contained within is also only live for 14 days.
  8. Applicant receives PVG cert via Scot Gov account and must click ‘Share’, so that we receive PVG information. Failure to do this, will mean they either cannot be employed by the club or they will need to resubmit an application at a cost of £18 to Disclosure Scotland.
  9. We receive the PVG and make a suitability decision for their employment with club (we may involve the club in this step depending on the information received).
  10. Club is informed by Scottish Cycling whether it can employ or is not allowed to employ individual.
Leaving a Regulated Role
If you are leaving a regulated role, or one of your members is, then please inform the Scottish Cycling Safeguarding team. We will then de-link them from Scottish Cycling, which will prevent any future data breaches should that individual commit an offence that requires ‘employers’ to be informed.

PVG Resources

Club/Group/Organisation Contracts and Agreements

PVG Processing Contract

 

Policy and Procedure

Wellbeing and Protection Policies – Scottish Cycling

Disclosure Scotland Code of Practice – Disclosure Scotland’s Code of Practice – mygov.scot