We are fortunate to be a strong and healthy Scout Group, committed to providing a positive Scouting experience to young people in our community. As a result of strong demand, there are times when one or more sections become oversubscribed.

Aim
We aim to maximise the number of young people who can participate in Scouting in 1st Pannal Scout Group by managing the waiting list and movement between Sections within the Group. 

The waiting list will be managed flexibly to achieve this aim. A great deal of care goes into the administration of membership places. We aim to be transparent about our reasons for allocating places, subject to confidentiality restrictions. The number of young people in each section is limited by the number of leaders, the space available in the Scout Hall and our equipment.

We aim to ensure a broad spread of ages within each section allowing each young person to progress through the sections and develop through the Leadership roles available within each Section e.g. sixer and seconder in Cubs and to achieve the Chief Scout awards. This is not possible where there are a considerable number of young people of the same age in one section and we want to ensure we can provide spaces to move on to the next section.

This supports the aim of Scouting, ‘to promote the development of young people in achieving their full potential’.

Capacity 

Availability is limited by capacity.

Our Squirrel Drey has a capacity of 16 young people. 
Our Beaver Colony has a capacity of 18-20 young people.
Our Cub Pack has a capacity of 20-24 young people.
Our Scout Troop has a capacity of 24-28 young people.
Our partnered Explorer Unit has a capacity of 24 young people. 

The lower capacity number is the one to which we work to allocate new joiners. The upper limit allows us flexibility for exceptional circumstances and movements between the sections.

Where sections have no spaces for additional young people, a waiting list shall be operated. The group waiting list shall be listed on Online Scout Manager to give visibility to section leaders and executive members.  

If there are sufficient Leaders and hall availability the Group Trustees and Operational team will consider opening additional sections.

The Waiting List will not be operated as a queuing system. It is a list of young people who have registered an interest in joining 1st Pannal Scout Group. 

The overarching concern is to manage the composition of each Section bearing in mind capacity, resourcing (which might vary in case of a shortage of leaders), the needs of the current members, the person on the waiting list, and any other relevant factor, particularly a factor affecting safety or wellbeing.

The progression and number of spaces within the sections are also dictated by the time young people spend in each section. It’s impossible to run all sections with the same number of young people due to the varying durations.

Applying for a place in a Scouting section

Applications for a Young Person to become a member of the Group must be made by the Young Person’s parent or guardian and contain the information set out via the OSM waiting list portal. This is the only list/data source for joining the Group.
We operate one waiting list via OSM and this caters for all sections and ages.
We do not operate a ‘taxi rank’ waiting list in so far as we look at those on the waiting list when we have a vacancy open up. We also would prefer young people to be placed on the waiting list when ready, not years and years in advance. 

Waiting List and Admissions Policy v2.0

The Group Lead Volunteer (GLV) is responsible for making decisions about membership of the Group. 

The GLV may delegate responsibility for decisions about the membership allocation from the waiting list to the Membership Secretary (MS) if one is appointed. The GLV/MS will consult with Section Leaders about the space they have in their Sections about when to admit new members and when to move members between Sections.

The MS or GLV will decide on admission and or movement between sections based on the best interests of the group and not just the section. Young people will be considered for a vacancy if they fall within 6 months of the starting age of the vacancy. Alternatively, suppose there is a ‘top-up’ vacancy due to say a young person leaving. In that case, the decision will be steered by finding a suitable replacement for the gap created or addressing an improvement opportunity within a section.

In the absence of vacancies for all those wanting to join the following priorities will be followed:

1. Leaders’ children: we may be able to take more members where we have more leaders. We also want to recognise leader commitment. We would also consider preference for adults assisting or supporting in other ways – for example, active operational team members in other supporting roles.
2. Young People who are currently part of the Group and moving between sections
3. Young People moving into the 1st Pannal Scout Group area as members of an existing group outside of the district. We are only able to accept transferring members if there is a vacancy.
4. Young people from the waiting list connected to the 1st Pannal Scout Group community – ie Pannal, Burn Bridge, Huby, North Rigton, and South Harrogate.
5. Young People on the waiting list outside of the local community

• The waiting list will be managed proactively to anticipate when there will be challenges for particular sections. There may be a need to protect spaces to ensure children can progress within the group.
• The allocation of spaces will ensure a balanced age range in each section, this may mean that the numbers of each age group are restricted.
• Young people will usually be admitted at the beginning of each term. 
• Any disputes on the application of these guidelines can be raised with the Section Leader in the first instance and escalated to the Group Scout Leader if not resolved. The Group Scout Leader’s decision is final.

If an offer to join a section is made to a parent of a young person on the waiting list, it is expected that the young person can join the group within one month. If the place is declined or the young person does not begin attending meetings within a month, the place may be offered to the next young person and the first young person will drop to the bottom of that cohort. This ensures that spaces are not ‘reserved’ for extended periods when another young person could be benefiting.

The decision to offer membership of the Scout Group to any young person rests entirely with the Group Lead Volunteer, in accordance with The Scout Association’s policies. There is no “automatic right” to membership, regardless of how long a young person has been on the waiting list.

This does not affect a young person’s rights under equality legislation or the Scout Association’s Equal Opportunities Policy.