BBC News Historical Safeguarding Compensation

You may have recently seen BBC news reports regarding historical safeguarding compensation cases. Please read in full the UK Association information for Parents and Carers.

BBC news reports - December 2014

Dear parent/carer,

You may have seen news reports from the BBC during December 2014 about compensation for historical safeguarding issues in the Scout Movement. As a parent/carer of a young person in Scouting it is important you are reassured that we as an organisation take the safety of the young people in Scouting very seriously.

We know that young people thrive in safe surroundings. We are therefore committed to ensuring that Scouting is both enjoyable and safe for everyone who takes part, and we work hard to achieve this through a number of stringent processes and procedures.

All Leaders who run our activities are volunteers who give their time freely to help young people enjoy Scouting. Leaders are interviewed locally and are asked to provide references when they join as a volunteer. Everyone working directly with young people in Scouting is required to undertake a criminal records disclosure.

We have a clear code of behaviour (sometimes called the ‘Yellow Card’) which is given to all adults volunteering to run Scouting, regardless of their role. This is also included in the training that leaders receive. This gives advice about how young people should be treated and we expect everyone to follow it. The content of this is the same as our Child Protection Policy (more information on this later in the letter).

All leaders in Scouting have training which covers a wide range of topics, and importantly this includes a mandatory safeguarding training module for all. Special training is provided for those taking young people away on residential events, such as camps and sleepovers.

Our Response to the news

To read more detail on our response to the BBC report please do head to our homepage at www.scouts.org.uk and our responses are located in the News section.

Further guidance and support

Having read this information if you wish to report any matters of concern about an individual or individuals in Scouting then please contact the safeguarding team using safeguarding@scouts.org.uk The Scout Association also has a complaints procedure (more information can be found in the About Us section of our website).

If you have general enquiries about safeguarding policies of the Scout Movement then please do speak to your child’s Leaders or contact the Scout Information Centre on 0845 300 1818/ 020 8433 7100.

If there are any further developments with this story in the media we are keeping our homepage at http://www.scouts.org.uk updated with our response. Please do check our website if you would like further information. You can also read more about our Child Protection Policy on our website within the About Us section, titled Key Policies.

You can also read more safeguarding information for parents within our Safe and Sound leaflet via www.scouts.org.uk/safeguarding and click on the ‘Safe and Sound leaflet for parents’ tab under the Child Protection section.

Scouting offers fun, challenge and adventure to nearly 450,000 young people in the UK and we are committed to making sure that Scouting is enjoyable and safe for everyone who takes part.

Yours,

Wayne Bulpitt & Matt Hyde
UK Chief Commissioner & Chief Executive
The Scout Association