Disclosure Scotland : What No Risk Assessment?
- Administrator
- Nov 9, 2025
- 2 min read
Disclosure Scotland’s statement regarding transgender individuals worried ScotPAG's professionals. We were concerned that the most important safeguarding organisation in Scotland was, according to its website, sanctioning self-identification regarding the term ‘transgender’. This is an ill-defined term which, by Stonewall’s own definition, includes anything from a vulnerable teenager, confused about his or her sex or sexuality, to a middle aged man with a fetish.
Given that Disclosure Scotland runs criminality checks on potential employees for schools, social services, hospitals, care services etc., we wrote to them expressing our concerns.
In their reply to ScotPAG on 11 September 2025, Disclosure Scotland did not address the fact that an ill-defined term i.e. ‘transgender’ had been included in their processes, and that self-identification had been embedded in its procedures, all of which is not in keeping with legislation. Here is their response:
We pointed this out and requested a copy of the risk assessment carried out on this aspect of Disclosure Scotland's procedure. The CEO's reply assured us of the robustness of its processes. Our concerns were politely rebuffed with no risk assessment forthcoming. In response to this denial of our request, ScotPAG submitted an FOI request, seeking a copy of the risk assessment. We received the attached response, that no risk assessment had been carried out.
A major risk is that if Disclosure Scotland does not inform regulators or employers of any prospective employee's name as on their birth certificate, employers and organisations will, for example, register men under female names. Employers will employ men as females, meaning agencies may never even meet new recruits, and could just send them out to work in care homes and other services for vulnerable people, causing real concern that the workforce in social care is compromised. The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) were not consulted by Disclosure Scotland about this, and currently the SSSC does not record the sex of registrants in its register. If the name of an individual is female then the assumption is that that person is female. How can employers be confident that the information provided by Disclosure Scotland is accurate?
We know that Disclosure Scotland does important work in scrutinising potential employees’ suitability to work in all our organisations providing services to children and vulnerable adults. Its CEO has clarified that there are many checks in place to ensure public safety. But Disclosure Scotland is a safeguarding body which has adopted the much criticised process of self-identification. This is not legal. Disclosure Scotland is employing the ill-defined term 'transgender', and has failed to carry out a mandatory risk assessment. This scenario suggests major weaknesses and loopholes in the system.
Can Disclosure Scotland’s safeguarding procedures be trusted?
Carolyn Brown, Retired Depute Principal Educational Psychologist, ScotPAG Convenor
Maggie Mellon, Senior Social Worker
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