Governance
Governance
Scottish Council
The Scottish Council is our overarching governance body representing members across the country. It meets once a year at our AGM to receive the Board's Annual Report and take any constitutional decisions. The Council also elects our Chair and Board members.
The Scottish Council consists of all adult members in Scouts Scotland and delegates management to our Board of Trustees who make decisions and ensure they’re carried out.
Scouting in Scotland is made possible by over 12,000 adult volunteers who dedicate a huge number of hours at a local and national level.
Gordon Robertson, Chair of Scottish board
Board of trustees
Our Trustees meet at least four times a year along with our Chief Executive. At each meeting, the Chief Executive reports on progress against the targets of our strategic plan and how the money is being spent against the budgets the Trustees have agreed.
Key functions and responsibilities include:
- Strategy development, implementation and evaluation
- Ensuring compliance and standards in all aspects of governance including financial, organisational and risk management
- Ensuring youth involvement in governance
The Board of Trustees is made up of:
- Chair
- 6 members elected by the Scottish Council (any member of Scouts Scotland over 18 years of age)
- 2 appointed from within or outside membership of Scouts Scotland
- 2 members nominated by the National Youth Advisory Group
- Up to 2 people co-opted in accordance with the Bylaws of the Board
- Treasurer
- Chief Commissioner of Scotland
How Trustees are recruited
Elected and appointed Trustees serve on the Board for three years and can then be re-elected or appointed to serve for a further three years.
Two Trustees are elected from our membership each year. Any member over the age of 18 can be nominated for election by any other two members. If more than two nominations are received then all members of the Scottish Council can vote to choose two Trustees.
We look for new appointed Trustees through an open recruitment process and look to target individuals with particular skills, for example legal, financial, human resources, change management and risk management.
If you'd like to become a Trustee, watch out for vacancies through our email newsletter, Facebook pages and this website.
Committees and group responsibilities
Sub-Committees
The Board of Trustees are responsible for looking at a lot of detail so some areas of work are delegated to a sub-committee.
Operations Committee
The Operations Committee is responsible for matters relating to the core business of Scouting which comprises all matters relating to programme, development, adult training and other support.
Business Committee
The Business Committee is responsible for matters relating to people, property, finance and related legal compliance.
Board Co-ordinating Group
The Co-ordinating Group is entrusted to manage affairs between meetings of the Board, when it would be inappropriate to warrant the calling of a special meeting of the Board. It also co-ordinates business across committees and sets the agenda for the Board.
Key roles
Chair
Gordon Robertson is our Chair. The Chair is elected by the Council for a period of three years to provide leadership and direction to the Board of Trustees and enable the Board to fulfil their responsibilities for the overall governance and strategic direction of the organisation.
Chief Commissioner of Scotland
Andrew Sharkey is Chief Commissioner of Scotland. This is the lead volunteer in Scotland and is appointed jointly by the UK Chief Commissioner and the Scottish Board. The Chief Commissioner’s responsibility is to lead and manage all volunteers within Scouting in Scotland and in particular the team of Scottish and Regional Commissioners.
Chief Executive
Graeme Luke is our Chief Executive and he is responsible to the Board and is in charge of the day-to-day management and administration of the organisation.
President
Mollie Hughes is our President. The President’s key role is to Chair the meetings of the Scottish Council and to act as an ambassador for Scouting in Scotland.
Our mission:
Scouting actively engages and supports young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society
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