Purpose of Trustee Boards 

Trustee Boards, and their sub-teams, need to focus only on good charity governance. This means responsibility for support and operational tasks needs to sit with other teams, like the Group Leadership Team or District / County Support Team. 

A clear separation of governance and operational tasks might be different to what volunteers who were part of Executive Committees are used to. But it’s important as it means Trustees can focus on governance and do it well. It’ll also be easier to retain volunteers and recruit new ones to Trustee Boards as what’s expected of our Trustees will be clearer.  

It also means that volunteers who want to focus on operational and support tasks do not need to be a Trustee to do so. For example, the person who’s great at managing the hall or running fundraising events can do so as part of the Leadership Team or Support Team. If they don’t have the interest, skill or time to be a Trustee – they don’t have to.  

Who’s on the Trustee Board 

All members of Trustee Boards are charity trustees, whether they’re ex officio, appointed, or co-opted. As Trustees, they all have the same rights and responsibilities. All Trustees should be recorded on Compass (and the new digital system when it’s live in your county). If a registered charity, Trustees should also be recorded with the appropriate regulator.

Trustee Board size  

Trustee Boards should have a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 12 members. This allows for a variety of viewpoints without making decision-making difficult. It also follows the Charity Governance Code’s recommendation.

Recruiting new Trustees: Recruiting new trustees | Scouts

Tasks for the whole team
All Trustees are equally responsible, but they might decide to split the tasks between them.
Trustees work together to make sure Groups, Districts, and Counties:

Manage money well
– Have enough money for now and in the future. This means having a reserves policy and making sure fundraising takes place, if it’s needed.
– Have a budget in place. Trustees then agree how to manage the budget with other volunteer teams.

Follow Scouts policies and relevant legislation
– Follow POR, key policies (including safety, safeguarding, data protection, and equality, diversity and inclusion), and
charity regulations.
– Follow employment law, and act as a responsible employer in line with Scout values if staff are employed. Make
sure effective line management is in place for each staff member, which can be delegated to others.
– Create Trustees Annual Report and Statement of Accounts.
– Have Statement of Accounts audited by an appropriate person before the Annual General Meeting. If they’re a registered charity, they’ll need to share it with the charity regulator.
– Hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Look after buildings, insurance and property
– Look after records of ownership of property and equipment.
– Have the right insurance for people, buildings, and equipment.
– Make sure buildings and equipment are working well.

Manage risks
– Maintain a risk register and put the right risk mitigations in place.

Help the charity to operate well, today and in the future
– Work with Lead Volunteers to meet their charity aims.
– Champion Our Volunteering Culture, and make sure volunteers are aware of it, reflect on it, commit to it, and apply it in their teams.

In carrying out the above, Trustees also:
– Make sure effective administration is in place to support the work of the Trustee Board.
– Make sure records of Trustee Board meetings are kept, and complete any actions that are agreed.
– Run open selection processes for appointing Trustees.
– Co-opt Trustees onto the Board if they need people with particular skills or knowledge.
– Get expert advice, if needed. This could be on health and safety, managing money, buildings, equipment, or employment.
– Network with other Scouts Trustees to share knowledge and experience.

Allocated tasks
Chair
> Lead the Trustee Board.
> Plan when Trustee Board meetings should take place, and decide what to talk about at each meeting.
> Lead Trustee Board meetings and the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
> Liaise with Lead Volunteers.
> Lead recruitment for new Trustees.
> Support other Trustees by organising inductions, making reasonable adjustments (where needed), checking in to see how they’re getting on, and carrying out annual reviews.
Treasurer
> Look after finances, such as making sure Groups / Districts / Counties are collecting all membership fees and making
all payments.
> Share details about income and spend with other Trustees.
> Make sure Gift Aid is being claimed.
> Make sure proper accounts are kept and draw up policies on finance and investment.

Further information on Trustee Boards can be found here: https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/running-things-locally/trustee-boards/