Christina McKelvie MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse welcomed Disclosure Scotlands announcement that they would be scrapping all fees for key workers and volunteers who are being drafted to help Scotland fight against coronavirus.

This is a temporary measure which will be in place for an initial period of 6 weeks, before being reviewed and extended further, if needed.

As thousands of people across the country offer their support, this move will alleviate financial pressures on those who need a disclosure, avoid unnecessary administrative burdens, and stop any delays caused by payment issues.

The list of key worker & key volunteer roles are; healthcare, pharmaceutical, childcare, social work, social care, prisons and justice. As the situation develops and evolves, the list of prioritised sectors may change as Disclosure Scotland identifies other sectors with roles critical to supporting the Scottish Government during this crisis.

In addition, Disclosure Scotland has already put a number of temporary measures in place to ensure the country can be properly resourced to tackle COVID-19, including only processing applications for workers deemed critical to helping the nation overcome coronavirus.

Disclosure Scotland is working closely with colleagues in the NHS, CoSLA, and the social care sector to understand exactly what is needed at this time. 

Christina said:

"This is an incredibly welcome move from the Scottish Government. The work done by Disclosure Scotland is incredibly important to ensure the safeguarding our children and other vulnerable adults and much volunteering requires the checks provided as part of this.

"We have seen an incredible upsurge in community spirit as a result of the challenges we face and it is only right that we all work together to remove as many barriers from volunteers as we safely can."