I am really pleased to advise that on the 31^st August the Regional Executive endorsed the way forward for Districts in South East Region.

Therefore I am writing to you to ask for your comments in relation to the way forward and your thoughts on implementation.

You will remember that the Project Team undertook some significant work in relation to gathering facts, figures and best practice in relation to what we needed to do as well as gathered your comments and thoughts as to what the critical issues were in relation to District Boundaries.

From this exercise we developed criteria which we used to check out options for moving forward based on the information gathered as follows:

 

1. It was important that a District reflected its geography, its population, population trends and the degree of urbanisation. (It is recognised that a District that is urban will be likely to have a higher number of Sections and members)
2. District boundaries should reflect the communities within it and areas of potential growth and development (a flexible approach should be encouraged to ensure that full provision is sought across the age range and takes account of social inclusion and diversity)
3. District Boundaries should be fully aligned within current Local Authority Boundaries (These are – Scottish Borders, City of Edinburgh , East Lothian , Midlothian)
4. A District should have a manageable number of Sections and Groups
5. Disruption should be limited where possible
6. Alignment with School catchment areas where possible
7. Alignment with Community Learning and Development Divisions where possible
8. Alignment with Neighbourhood Partnerships where possible

 

Due to the significant impact of Council Boundaries in relation to funding and other supportive partnerships the team agreed that all Districts should be within a Council Boundary, the impact of this is that Borders, East Lothian and Midlothian will not be changed. We did however cross check this decision by including these Districts in our criteria matching exercise. The outcome of this confirmed that this decision was valid.

Prior to developing options we measured current Districts against the criteria to ensure that we were clear that there was a need for change and if so where. Having done this 4 Districts came out as meeting the majority of the criteria , they were Borders, East Lothian , Midlothian and Pentland. This further validated our decision to protect council boundaries.

We developed a number of options and tested these against the criteria and I am pleased to advise that the following option met the majority of criteria to a high level.

 

The Way Forward is:

7 Districts

New District – made up of Leith and Portobello

New District – made up of Morningside and Blackford

New District – made up of Haymarket and Inverleith

No Change to boundaries in Pentland, Midlothian, East Lothian and Borders

 

I now want to ask you for the following input:

• Comments on the Way Forward
• What issues do you regard as critical to supporting implementation of  a new number of Districts?
• What barriers do you see to implementation and how can you help to overcome them?
• How can you help to make the changes successful?

 

Please do so by emailing me on review@southeastscotlandscouts.org.uk, or writing to me at  15 Valleyfield St by 30th September.

As I have said in earlier communications your view is important so please get in touch.

Once I have your comments and suggestions I will report back to the Regional Executive and seek endorsement to commence with the restructure of Districts as well as inform them of the implementation process.

To support implementation I have established an Implementation Advisory Group who will meet once the Executive have met in October and they will ensure that a robust plan is in place to support the changes. From there I will meet with each District Commissioner to discuss moving forward.

I would expect all the changes to be in place no later than 31^st March 2012, but will agree implementation plans for each  District separately.

It is also important to mention that one point which came out very strongly in the consultation exercise was the need for flexibility, a willingness to change, support and development for adults in leadership roles and management in all Districts whether they changed or not in relation to boundaries. To support this the Regional Team [ARC’s, DC’s] will work very closely with me to take things forward.

There was a presentation made to District teams on 4^th September and some extracts from this will appear on the Regional website in the next few days. There will also be two evenings run at Valleyfield Street on 13^th and 29^th September at which the presentation will be repeated. If you would like to attend please book a place by calling 0131 229 3756.

We are unanimous in our purpose which is to support a high level of local Scouting for young people and I am pleased to say that I believe that these changes will go some way to allowing this to happen more proactively than in the past, and should stand us in good stead looking to the future.

 

Dorothy McKinney

Regional Commissioner                                                                                                                                                                 

5^th  September 2011