Branch - Unit Council Duty Statement
Unit Council
RESPONSIBLE TO: Venturer Scout Leader
Unlike Scouts, Venturer Scouts don’t have Patrols or Patrol Leaders. We have an organization known as the Unit Council. This group of Venturer Scouts is responsible for the management of the Unit. The Council is similar to the Troop Council but every Venturer Scout within the Unit has an opportunity to both be on the Council and to elect members to it.
MEMBERSHIP OF THE COUNCIL
It is made up of a Unit Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and any other elected members, plus co-opted activity
leaders for special activities. The Venturer Scout Leaders are also members, but there should be more Venturer Scouts
than Leaders on the Council.
Some other jobs could include PR Officer, Quartermaster, Transport Officer or whatever you need to make the Unit run
effectively.
Members should be elected to do a job, not on popularity. After all you are electing them to do a job and are
prepared to give them your full backing. Popularity by itself is not a qualification. Many Units have members with
different ages to provide a cross section of views.
RESPONSIBILITY
The Unit Council is responsible for a number of things including the Unit Program, membership, finance,
communication, Award Scheme standards, discipline and Unit traditions. It is a very important part of any Venturer
Scout Unit.
The Council should meet separately from the Unit Meeting at least once per month. Many also meet either before of
after each Unit meeting, for a few minutes to check on progress.
Elections are held probably every six months, so that those jobs get shared around. Some positions may be held for
longer than six months, depending on how the Council members are operating.
Obviously it is useful to have some continuity, but you should bring in new blood as part of a regular policy so that
the Unit benefits from fresh ideas. There is no question, of course, of being ‘demoted’; it is simply a question of
having the privilege of leading the Unit for a time and eventually standing down to enable someone else to benefit
from this experience also.
If you are not a member of the Unit Council then you must do your best to back up its members and support its
decisions once they have been taken on behalf of the Unit as a whole.
Remember, finally, that the Unit Council is particularly concerned with deciding on the standards, which will be
adopted, by the Unit and its members. It is not always necessary to write these down, but everyone must be quite
clear about what has been decided.