The Scouts Association has been accused of being “institutionally defensive” and lacking a “culture of candour” in a report published this week.
A report into the death of Benjamin Leonard, who died at the age of 16 during a three-day Scout trip in 2018, said the charity failed to recognise that the “inadequacies” of its operational practice were putting the lives of young people at risk.
Assistant coroner David Pojur identified several issues of safety and safeguarding at the charity, warning that “there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken”.
A jury inquest last week concluded that Leonard’s death was due to “unlawful killing by the explorer Scout leader and assistant explorer Scout leader contributed to by the neglect of the Scouts”.
Pojur said the Scouts’ release of a press release “within moments” of the jury’s conclusion showed the charity’s failure to accept any accountability, understanding and proper learning from the boy’s death.
The Charity Commission said it would consider its actions after looking carefully at Pojur’s prevention of future deaths report.
A spokesperson for the Scouts said that it is working on a full response to the report, noting that it has 56 days to do so.
‘Urgent need’ for public inquiry
Leonard died of a head injury on 26 August 2018 while he was climbing the Great Orme in north Wales unsupervised with other explorer scouts.
Pojur previously raised 20 points of concern in a report published in February 2020, including the lack of implementation of existing safety policies and effective leadership for the group.
He had also said that the Scouts was “distant from its membership through its federated branches of 8,000 charities and layers of hierarchy meaning that it cannot know how health and safety is executed at ground level”.
In his latest report, Pojur said there was “an urgent need for the establishment of a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005” into the charity.
“I’m concerned that there is not a culture of candour within the Scouts and the impact that this has on safety and safeguarding,” he wrote.
“I’m also concerned that, whilst the Charity Commission has regulatory oversight, there is no robust regulator who independently and periodically audits and inspects the systems, processes and training of the Scouts or the granting of permits for adventurous activities, hill walking and nights away permits.
“Further, the Scouts permit scheme for adventurous activities is exempt from regulation by the Health and Safety Executive.”
In response, a spokesperson for the Commission said: “This was a tragic incident, and the coroner has made serious findings regarding the Scouts.
“We will look carefully at the coroner’s report to see how the Commission can play its part.
“In line with our guidance, the Scouts have kept us updated. We cannot comment further at this time.”
Failure to act
According to the Scouts’ policy, the charity should have established an inquiry on behalf of its trustees following the death of Leonard.
However, Pojur said that no fatal accident inquiry panel report has been produced and no prospective panel members have been identified for the investigation.
“Without a timely internal fatal accident inquiry panel investigation report this gives me great concern that issues of safety and safeguarding are not properly considered, transparently engaged with and then addressed formally in respect of a child fatality,” Pojur’s report says.
He also accused the Scouts’ of trying to “control the narrative” surrounding the trip to the Great Orme and dynamic risk assessment, with any investigation by county or district level being “prevented by headquarters at Gilwell”.
“In this investigation the evidence I have heard leads me to a concern as to a general reluctance by the Scouts Association to engage in a meaningful learning exercise to prevent a recurrence of the issues pertaining to Ben’s death,” he said.
The Scouts said on its website that all Scout leaders undergo mandatory safety training and have the first five months in their voluntary role to complete it and “all volunteers who are required to do safety training must complete the online module”.
Pojur said in his report he was concerned that the course was “superficial at best and fundamentally basic”, as it can be completed in 12 minutes.
“It’s unsurprising that the current pass rate is now correspondingly high,” he said
“This causes concern as an introductory module needed to equip thousands of leaders with an understanding of how to complete a risk assessment in order to keep scouts safe. It does not embed the fundamental principles of safety and safe scouting.”
A spokesperson for the Scouts said: “We have a team of staff and volunteers starting to work on our response to the coroner’s recommendations, with active monitoring from a sub-committee of trustees and oversight by our full board, noting we have 56 days to respond.
“The full trustee board will also meet regularly on an agreed schedule to ensure they are fully informed as to its progress, and to approve the final version of the association’s response.”
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