Governance

Gift aid and charity status

From 2020, if your group claims gift aid, we’ve asked how much you have received. We have asked this question because we’re trying to understand the different amounts of gift aid that’s claimed on average for groups in different economic areas – this is part of our ‘extending reach’ programme of work. Not sure what gift aid is or how to claim it? Learn more about claiming gift aid. Please enter a value rounded to the nearest £1.

If your group’s registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, OSCR in Scotland, or the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland, we ask you to provide your charity registration number. Please note that isn’t the same as a gift aid, or HMRC registration number. This information will give us an accurate picture of the number of groups, districts and counties across the UK that are registered with the regulators and will feed directly into the governance program of work currently underway. In some countries and territories, the charity registration number question is not asked for at all. If you aren’t sure, you can use the charity regulator websites to search for registered charities in England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Constitution and Group Executive Committee

From 2020, we’ve asked for slightly more information about how your executive committee is made up, including how many are under 25 year olds are members, how many section leaders have opted to members of the executive, and how many other adults have a leader role in Scouts.

We’ve also asked if the group’s formally adopted a constitution at one of its AGMs. There’s a standard constitution in POR rule 5.4 which is used by many groups, but this, or another constitution should be formally adopted. If you aren’t sure if this has ever been done, we’ve provided an option for ‘not known’. This’ll provide the governance programme of work with a clear understanding of the various constitution models that are currently in place across UK Scouts. 

Complaints

The complaints question relates to complaints raised formally under The Scouts complaints policy. It does not include informal concerns raised which may have been resolved informally. We are seeking this information as we are always looking to improve our policies and procedures including the complaints policy. This information will help us to build a picture of the volumes of formal complaints received as a movement overall. We plan to work closely with a representative sample of the movement to explore changes in how we deal with complaints. We also want to look at the advice and guidance available for all stakeholders including complainants and their representatives, managers and individuals subject to the complaints process. This data will also be helpful for the line management chain to get a better understanding of their respective areas in Scouting when it comes to concerns and complaints.

Other Property

If your group owns, leases or rents any other land or buildings, in addition to your main meeting place, tell us whether this is freehold, leasehold, is rented, or is used with no cost. You can select multiple options if more than one applies. This is also part of our governance programme of work, and this information will give us an accurate picture of the level of property ownership of groups, districts and counties across the UK.