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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means

Policy, Organisation and Rules

Scout’s Policy Organisation and Rules (POR) provides support and guidance to help us all run Scouts.

POR Amendments July 2023 (updated September 2023)

During Spring 2024, significant changes to volunteering are being introduced.

This July 2023 (updated in September 2023) edition of POR applies until the transition date for each County/Area/Region (Scotland)/Branch and its sections, Groups and Districts.

From the date of their transition, an edition of POR that’ll soon be published will apply for each County/Area/Region (Scotland)/Branch.

September 2023 amendments

This September 2023 update adds to the July 2023 edition of POR in three ways:

  • In Chapter 4, reformatting of Section 4.4 (Ratios) requires some clarifications. It appeared to have introduced some rule changes, but that was not the intention. Only the wording of Section 4.4 is amended in this update.
  • There is a change to Chapter 15 (addition of new Section 15.1. The other four paragraphs in the chapter are renumbered as a consequence.)
  • There are changes to Chapter 9 (Activities) in:
  1. Section 9.3 (specifically 9.3.1.3 and 9.3.1.4)
  2. Section 9.5 (changes to 9.5.1.3 and 9.5.1.4 and 9.5.1.5 and 9.5.1.6, with the removal of 9.5.1.7)
  3. Section 9.7 (changes to 9.7.1.1, addition of new 9.7.1.5 [so all later paragraphs in 9.7 are renumbered], and changes to 9.7.1.11 [formerly 9.7.1.10])

July 2023 amendments 

This July 2023 edition of POR updates the April 2023 edition of POR to reflect a number of changes and improvements. A complete list of the amendments can be found in the full POR PDF.

However, a summary of the changes are:

  • We’re progressively removing the word ‘Rule’ from the headings in the Chapters of POR. The rules themselves are unchanged, although some are made clearer by appropriate use of the words ‘must’, ‘should’ and ‘may’.  In this July edition, it affects Chapters 1, 4, 5, 9, 14, 15 and 16
  • Removal of all cross-references to previous editions of POR
  • Minor wording or style corrections in Chapters 1, 5 and 14
  • Addition of ‘Our Volunteering Culture’ to Chapter 3
  • Correction of an incorrect rule number in Section 4.6.1.1
  • In Chapter 5, Sections 5.1.1.1 and 5.5.1.2 are both updated to clarify that Groups, Districts and Counties within the The Scout Association (TSA) Federation of Charities are each an unincorporated charity. This is a clarification and not a rule change.
  • Re-ordering of certain Annual General Meeting (AGM) elements in Section 4.3.2(c)
  • Correction of ‘may’ to ‘must’ in Section 1.3.1 and Section 14.1.3.2
  • Correction of ‘is required’ to ‘must’ in Section 14.2.2.10
  • Correction of ‘executive committee’ to ‘trustee board’ in Section 14.3.4.1
  • Renaming of Chapter 15 as ‘Resolving concerns’, and adding a short section about safeguarding concerns
  • Updating Section 16.7.2 to clarify requirements regarding helpers

Download POR July 2023 (September Update)