Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Annual General Meetings… We have one – but why? Do we have to have one? Who should we invite? What do we have to include?

The annual general meeting (AGM) is a mandatory yearly meeting of the Group Scout Council with important legal aspects and key business that must be covered. But that doesn’t mean that it needs to be boring, lengthy or tedious.

Section leaders and the executive committee

All section leaders (individuals holding a Beaver, Cub, Scout & Explorer role), need to indicate to the group at its AGM that they wish to sit on the executive committee as an ex-officio member.

The declaration of Intent form can be used by section leaders to indicate in writing that they wish to sit on the group executive committee. Once completed, the form will need to be passed to the group chair before the AGM.

Another Annual General Meeting – frequently asked questions…

Must we have an Annual General Meeting?

Given that every scout group is a charity and many register with the Charity Commission all Scout Groups must have an Annual General Meeting (each year). It is the responsibility of your group executive committee, as the charity trustees, to ensure this happens.

Whose Annual General Meeting is it?

The Group Council. Which leads to the next question…

Who are the members of the Group Council?

Membership of your group scout council is open to:

Group Scout Leader
Assistant Group Scout Leader
Section Leaders
Assistant Section Leaders
Group Scout Active Support members
Skills Instructors
Officers of the Group Executive Committee
Members of the Group Executive Committee
Sub-committee members
Administrators
Advisers

Patrol Leaders
all parents of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts
the Sponsoring Authority or nominee (if applicable)
any other supporters including former scouts and their parents who may be admitted by the Group Scout Leader, the Group Executive Committee or the Group Scout Council
Explorer Scout Leaders (if stated in the partnership agreement)

The right to attend:

District Commissioner
District Chair

These are listed in the policy, organisation & rules of The Scout Association.

Why do we need an Annual General Meeting of the Group Council ?

Two outstanding reasons:

For the group executive committee, as the charity trustees, to report on group activities during the past year.
To allow the group council to appoint the group’s officers and trustees for the year ahead.

Those two reasons are not unique to scouting. All charities local and national are required to have an annual general meeting to receive an annual report and end of year accounts and to appoint a management committee.

How is a report made to members of the Group Council ?

By producing an annual report in accordance with our own rules (POR). There are three very important parts of the annual report:

A list of names of the group executive committee members for the past year.
A statement of the main activities of each section of the group to include both the scouting programme and the work of the group executive committee during the past year.
The annual accounts prepared in accordance with SORP and POR.

The group executive committee will need to approve the end of year accounts before the annual general meeting as they represent the stewardship of the group finances by the committee.

What do we do with the Annual Report ?

Send it out in advance of the Annual General Meeting to all members of the group council and to any guests who are to be invited.

The Annual General Meeting is a requirement but what about a programme ?

The AGM alone is often insufficient to enthuse our guests. As a Group we hold an open evening and display scouting activities of the past year or maybe invite a guest speaker for after the business has been concluded.

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