Understand suspensions for safeguarding reasons

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Hello!

In this short video you’ll get an overview of what you, District or County Lead Volunteer, need to know about suspensions for safeguarding reasons.

Suspensions allow time and space for any necessary investigation or enquiry to take place, whilst protecting all the individuals concerned and the movement.

Suspensions related to a safeguarding concern are a bit different from suspensions for other reasons.

The Lead Volunteer must work with the UK HQ Safeguarding Team to manage the suspension and decide on any actions. This is to reduce the risk of harm to Young People and to ensure a thorough investigation.

Let’s take a look at how suspensions for safeguarding reasons happen in practice.

At Scouts, the welfare of children and young people is our priority. To minimise risks to them and to adults, we might need to suspend a volunteer if there’s a safeguarding concern.

Some of the reasons for a safeguarding suspension are:

An allegation of a serious criminal offence.
An investigation by statutory agency.
The actions have caused or could cause serious harm to a member or non-member.

In some cases, the suspension starts at HQ level. The UK HQ Safeguarding Team contacts the District or County / Area / Region Lead Volunteer to inform them about the concern and suggest the suspension.

In other cases, the suspension might start locally, then must be passed on to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

In both scenarios, the Lead Volunteer and the UK HQ Safeguarding Team work together to define and agree actions and outcomes.

Managing a suspension for a safeguarding reason might be challenging and you might feel nervous. The UK HQ Safeguarding Team will provide you with guidance and support through all stages of the process.

The UK HQ Safeguarding Team might:

Investigate the safeguarding concern.
Liaise with statutory agencies.
Support Lead Volunteers with undertaking local enquiries.
Recommend actions to the Lead Volunteer.
Explain what information the Lead Volunteer can share with others.
Manage the suspension through My Membership.
Send the necessary written communication to the suspended volunteer.
Provide the Lead Volunteer with updates.
Recommend the suspension outcome.
Close the safeguarding case.

So what’s your responsibility as a Lead Volunteer?

District and County/Area/Region Lead Volunteers are expected to:

Work in partnership with UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
Inform the volunteer about the suspension.
Offer a Liaison Person to the suspended volunteer and share their contact details with UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
Notify other relevant volunteers (like the Group Lead Volunteer) and keep them informed, maintaining confidentiality.
Keep the suspended volunteer and their Liaison Person informed.
Support local volunteers in making arrangements to cover the suspended volunteer.
Collaborate with UK HQ Safeguarding Team to create a support plan for victim(s) and young people impacted.
Monitor local actions and share updates with UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
Agree suspension outcome with UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
Communicate suspension outcome to volunteer and manage any conditions for return, if appropriate.

Remember that you’re not alone when managing a suspension for a safeguarding reason.

The UK HQ Safeguarding Team will support you with these actions. You can seek their advice anytime you need.

You can also contact your Lead Volunteer to ask for support and a lending ear. And you can check if there’s a Volunteer Safeguarding Lead in your District or County to support you.

Once the statutory agency involvement has concluded and the internal process have been done, you’ll discuss and agree the suspension outcome with the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

There’re 4 possible outcomes:
Reinstate: The volunteer returns to their role with or without changes.
End the role(s): The volunteer returns to Scouts, but in a different role or team.
End membership: The volunteer can’t return to Scouts, but they may apply to re-join after a defined period of time.
Exclusion: permanent ending of membership.

The timelines for suspensions for safeguarding reasons vary significantly from case to case, depending on the investigations needed. Each case is unique.

The UK HQ Safeguarding Team will explain the expected timelines, where possible, and guide you through each step.

The UK HQ Safeguarding Team is there to support you through the whole process. They’ll provide you with any additional guidance you might need.

You can also read the Suspensions for safeguarding reasons webpage for more information and get tips on how to manage the suspension locally.

Thanks for watching!

What suspensions for safeguarding reasons are

At Scouts, the welfare of children and young people is our priority. To minimise risks to them and to adults, we might need to suspend a volunteer if there’s a safeguarding concern.

Some of the reasons for a safeguarding suspension are:

An allegation of a serious criminal offence.
An investigation by statutory agency.
The actions or inactions have caused or could cause serious harm to a member or non-member.

You’ll find the reasons for suspending adult volunteers in POR Rule 16.7.

Suspensions allow time and space for any necessary investigation or enquiry to take place, whilst protecting all the individuals concerned and the movement.

Who manages suspensions for safeguarding reasons

In some cases, the suspension starts at HQ level. The UK HQ Safeguarding Team contacts the District or County/Area/Region Lead Volunteer to inform them about the concern and suggest the suspension.

In other cases, the suspension might start locally, then must be passed on to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

The UK HQ Safeguarding Team must oversee all suspensions for safeguarding reasons. They’ll work with the District or County/Area/Region (Scotland) Lead Volunteer to define actions and outcomes.

The District or County/Area/Region (Scotland) Lead Volunteer can ask another Lead Volunteer or a Volunteer Safeguarding Lead to be the main point of contact about the case. This’s an informal role known as Situation Manager.

The District or County/Area/Region (Scotland) Lead Volunteer is responsible for making the decisions on actions and outcomes, together with the UK HQ Safeguarding Team. This can’t be delegated to the Situation Manager.

The Suspension Lead accreditation doesn’t cover suspensions for safeguarding reasons.

What the UK HQ Safeguarding Team does

The UK HQ Safeguarding Team are professionals who offer advice and guidance, and ensure Scouts take the appropriate steps to keep everyone safe. They might:

Investigate the safeguarding concern.
Liaise with statutory agencies.
Support Lead Volunteers with undertaking local enquiries.
Recommend actions to the Lead Volunteer and Situation Manager.
Explain what information the Lead Volunteer and Situation Manager can share with others.
Manage the suspension through My Membership.
Send the necessary written communication to the suspended volunteer.
Provide the Lead Volunteer and Situation Manager with updates.
Recommend the suspension outcome.
Close the safeguarding case.

What’s your responsibility as a Lead Volunteer

When managing a suspension for a safeguarding reason, District and County/Area/Region (Scotland) Lead Volunteers are expected to:

Work in partnership with UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
Inform the volunteer about the suspension.
Offer a liaison person to the suspended volunteer and share their contact details with UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
Notify other relevant volunteers (like the Group Lead Volunteer) and keep them informed, maintaining confidentiality.
Keep suspended volunteer and their Liaison Person informed, as appropriate.
Support local volunteers in making arrangements to cover the suspended volunteer.
Collaborate with UK HQ Safeguarding Team to create a support plan for victim(s) and young people impacted.
Monitor local actions and enquiries and share updates with UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
Agree suspension outcome with UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
Communicate suspension outcome to volunteer and manage any conditions for return, if appropriate.

If someone else is the Situation Manager for the case, the Lead Volunteer can ask their support with some of these tasks.

Remember that you’re not alone. The UK HQ Safeguarding Team will support you with these actions. You can seek their advice anytime you need.

You can also contact your Lead Volunteer to ask for support and a lending ear. Check the page Support for you, your team and young people for more information.

Page last reviewed: November 2025

Stages and timelines

Understand suspensions for safeguarding reasons

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