A. In Sections the volunteer(s) leading the activity on the day have responsibility for ensuring that appropriate safety measures/ risk assessments and are in place and the rules for the activity are followed including any requirement for a permit holder to be present.

Clarity is provided by the GSL/Lead Volunteer and through Group Scouters meetings, HQ, County and District updates.  If in doubt advice must be sought from the Group’s Lead Volunteer or the District team before the activity goes ahead.

Ultimately, the Local Trustee Board has overall responsibility for ensuring the Group, District or County is compliant with current safety and safeguarding requirements.

A. There are two different dates for full transition. In November 2023, the 10 early adopter counties will have access to the new Digital system that supports Go Live. Cambridgeshire is part of the remaining 90% of Counties that will Go Live in February 2024. Before then, considerable preparation and co-ordination needs to be undertaken by each County and its Districts /Groups, to ensure we’re ready to Go Live in February 2024. Groups will hear more about the actions to be taken from their  District Commissioner and the County Transformation Lead through the summer and Autumn 2023 terms.

A. On-brand stationery, posters, flyers etc. can already be designed and downloaded (free) by members using the Brand Centre templates.

A. Considerable preparation is needed  to ensure we’re ready for the major changes that  go live (in Cambridgeshire) Feb 24. Today is about ensuring that everyone is are aware of the changes and how they form part of the wider picture of change.  Changes have already started for every Group, District & County with  changes from Executives to Trustee Boards from 18 April 2023, with more changes  being phased in during the summer and Autumn 2023 terms. The scale of the changes also means that there would be enough time to provide updates for everyone between November 23 and the end of January 24.

A. Ultimately this will rest with the Trustee Board, however the volunteer(s) leading the activity have responsibility for ensuring that appropriate safety measures/ risk assessments and are in place and the rules for the activity are followed including any requirements for a permit holder to be present.

A. All Executive Committees and their “members” were renamed “Trustee Boards” and “Trustees” respectively by the POR  update of 18 April 2023. There is no change to the role names for “Chairs” and “Treasurers”

A. Possible questions to be asked, by DCs/CCs etc, when drawing up the revised district/county structures might include: What are you doing now (in terms of tasks)? What would you like to do in the new team/structure?

A. Where a GSL is not in post the DC becomes GSL (Acting)/Lead Volunteer for the Scout Group or they can appoint someone as GSL (Acting)/Lead Volunteer for the Scout Group as a temporary role for up to six months. 

A. Each Section will have Team Leader(s), Team members and Young Leaders. 

A. The Lead Volunteer of the Group will be the line manager for Section-based volunteers within a Group. As all Explorer Scout Units are District Units, regardless of any partnership agreements, the line manager will be the Lead volunteer of the District 14-18 Team (currently the DESC).

A. They are dealt with in a sub-team of the Leadership team.  Suggestion made that this should be shown on the Group team structure chart.

A. Lead Volunteers should be focussed on the leadership and management (strategy and directing) not doing the tasks. The Trustee Board’s role is making governance related decisions and its up to the lead volunteer to ask the appropriate questions and ensure there are good answers.

A. Trustee Boards will continue to have a Chair and Treasurer, as now. The role of secretary will be optional.

The Trustee Board is a team of volunteers who work together, as charity Trustees, to make sure the Scouts is run safely and legally. At the heart of their role is a focus on strategy, performance and assurance. (POR 5.4.4.1)

Members of the Trustee Board must act collectively as charity trustees of their charity, and in the best interests of the charity’s members. (POR 5.4.4.2)

Our village’s joint Scout & Guide Executive has worked well for many years and makes operates as the combined Exec for both the Scout and Guides sides. All Leaders are willing to be on the Trustees. Can this arrangement continue, albeit as a joint Trustee Board.

A. The “governance” related discussions/decisions that relate to “Scouting” on the one hand and “Guiding” on the other need to be separated out, so that the Trustees  are clear when making decisions “Scouting” only matters they have a “Scout Trustee” hat on and are bound by POR. Conversely for “Guiding” matters, as Scouts and Guides are separate charities with different HQ and rules.

A. This has already changed; see POR 16.1.1.6.  The individual must be able to recognise and manage any conflicts of interest between current roles.

A. No. It’s for scouting to find out about the volunteer

A. Yes. Conversation need to be held, but will be a much shorter one than for the new volunteer as they are already known to Scouting.

A. There will be some roles where the ability to use a computer will be mandatory as the person will not be able to do the role without this ability.

A. Every welcome conversation takes place locally and is expected to include a representative of the Group/Section where the person will be volunteering and someone independent of the Group concerned but usually an experienced member of the section concerned, perhaps from another Group or from the District team. Details to be confirmed by HQ.

For instance, does an individual who has been a leader in (say) Lancashire – when a student – then need to have a full welcome conversation when they come back to (say) Cambridgeshire and apply to volunteer there?

A. Hamish asked DB to note the question and pass to him to get a response from the wider HQ team.

A. No. The Scouts have a clear cut off between youth and adult participation in Scouting and all new adults getting involved need to go through a warm welcome into adult volunteering. Our new welcoming process and systems will make this far easier than it is today. The separate 14 – 24 programme will review ways to streamline this transition further in the future.

A. No. Membership system admin rights will manage this. Lead volunteers for the Group (or District for District roles) will manage movement of volunteers between their teams.

A. Checks will be made against Companies House database etc. to ensure the person is eligible to be a Trustee. Local (manual) checks must also be made as you’re the only person who knows the individual and can get the information.

A. The person making the checks is required to confirm an electronic declaration (within the new Membership Management system) that they have made the … checks. The system will have an inbuilt electronic audit trail that shows the name of the person who, for instance, certifies, that  “I …. name…. have made the …. checks and confirm that  X is not disqualified from  being a Trustee” It will also show the date that the certificate is made.

As situations occur leading to a person’s eligibility to be a Trustee do occasionally change between one year and the next, should they be asked to make a fresh declarations each year?

A. Hamish asked that DB noted the question and sent it to him to pass to the wider HQ to consider.

A. Until a disclosure has been obtained through Scouting no individual may either have unsupervised access to young people or take part in any regulated activity. No change to the current process will be made as a result of the introduction of changes to the Volunteer Experience.

A. Yes, there will be a new learning module and a list of points which must be covered.

A. At the point your County/District transitions to the new arrangements. For Cambridgeshire this will be February 2024, although the October POR will contain the  they key changes for the 10 early adopting counties to use from November 2023 and so other counties are aware of them.

The learning teams will need to ensure arrangements are in place for those who are to undertake the welcome conversation to complete the learning between November 23 and February 2024.

A. Yes, Usually in much more friendly and welcoming way. It’s likely to be a new set of people  undertaking the conversation to ensure we actually change  our approach. The new Membership system will , for electronic audit trail,  contain a record of the person who noted the conversation on the record and the name of the independent welcomer.

A. First Aid will continue in its current format for the present. No clarity as yet as to future applicable roles.