Scouts is carrying out a redundancy programme as it tackles “extra cost pressures on essential work” and lower than expected membership growth at the charity.

The move has also been taken to address an increase in legal claims, according to chief executive Matt Hyde in a letter to staff seen by Charity Times.

Savings already earmarked, of £3.1m in non-staffing costs and £8.2m in capital spending cuts over the next three years, “have not been sufficient to achieve the overall savings we need to make for this year and future years”,” adds Hyde’s letter.

His letter says 59% of its budget is spent on staff and the charity is having to “review this most significant area of expenditure”, adding “we have done this reluctantly and tried to minimise the impact”.

Changes include reviewing vacant roles, “the pace of our programmes of work” and “commercial services staff levels”.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “As part of this proposal there could be a net loss of 10 roles across 509 colleagues to make sure we focus on the essentials for supporting our young people and volunteers.”

It is understood that around 20 staff members are being made redundant, across the charity's Scouts Programme teams, Scout Store and Unity Insurance functions.

Roles within the Squirrels, Explorers and Network sections are involved, said the source.

The Scout Store roles affected include those involved in customer relationship management, social media, marketing, and merchandising.

Meanwhile, 12 vacant roles have been removed, this includes four safeguarding roles, an EDI role and tech roles.

‘Staff members were in tears’

Staff have been told that the moves will contribute to £1m savings over the next year, says the source.

“The mood amongst staff is extremely negative,” the source added.

The source added that when informed of the redundancies in online calls “almost all staff members were in tears".

“All calls were cut short as further redundancy calls were scheduled back-to-back, leaving many questions unanswered”.

Hyde’s letter details that its membership grew by 2% last year, 7% down on its prediction.

“This reduces our income both from membership fees and from what people buy from Scout Store,” says his letter.

He added that an increase in legal claims has come as the courts “normalise after the pandemic”.

Work around volunteering and additional safeguarding investment last year are among extra cost pressures cited by Hyde, who is stepping down this year after 11 years to become chief executive at Lloyds Bank Foundation.

This increased focus on safety comes as the Scouts was referred earlier this year to the Charity Commission by a coroner who raised concerns around its safeguarding practices.

This followed an inquest into the death of a teenager who fell from a cliff edge while on a Scouts trip. The matter has also been referred to North Wales police.

Assistant coroner for North Wales David Pojur also raised concerns that the charity is “institutionally defensive” and that “there is not a culture of candour” within its organisation.

‘Tough decisions’

A spokesperson for Scouts said: “The continued cost of living crisis means we see significant pressures on our budget. We are having to take tough decisions to focus on essential work to focus on front line services, continuing to invest in keeping young people safe and supporting growth.

“Our management team found £3.1 million essential savings from non-staff costs. However, we still needed to save more to be sustainable for future years so to make this possible we reluctantly reviewed our largest expenditure, our staff.”

The spokesperson added: “We want to reduce the impact on colleagues, so we have reviewed vacant roles, the pace of our projects and the income brought in through commercial services.

“We briefed all our staff on this consultation last week. As part of this we gave detailed briefings to those staff that would be most impacted by these proposals and are offering comprehensive support to all concerned.

“Staff reorganisations are never easy to undertake, but we must take these actions to ensure the long-term support for the UKs largest youth movement.”

---