All adults taking on an appointment in Scouting are required to show that they have the skills needed for the role. To help individuals through the process of completing this training they will be linked with one or more Training Advisers. Training Advisers are responsible for helping adults match their existing skills with those of their new role, for identifying skills gaps, for agreeing plans for gaining the required skills and for confirming that those skills have been successfully gained.

Manager & Supporter Training

Dates have been released for training in 2024. Please use the following links for further information.

The Permit Scheme

The adventurous activity permit scheme is an enabling device, designed to ensure that all those leading adventurous activities for young people within Scouting have the skills and experience to do so without the need for external professional level qualifications. It is designed to be as flexible as possible, while at the same time providing a robust checking process for those leading these activities.

Everyone who leads an adventurous activity for young people within Scouting is required to hold an activity permit for that activity. (Different Rules apply when using external providers.) Details of which activities are classed as adventurous can be found in POR.

Although managed locally, the activity permit scheme is a national scheme, so once gained, a permit will allow you to run that activity in any District or County. As an internal scheme within Scouting, permits are only able to be held by members and associate members of The Scout Association.

How it works

The person who grants a permit is your Commissioner. This will be your District Commissioner if you have a Group or District appointment, and your County Commissioner if you have a County appointment. When they grant a permit it will be recorded on the membership database. It is the record on the membership database that is the definitive record of whether you have a permit and exactly what it covers. If it is not recorded in the database then it does not exist.

A Commissioner can only grant a permit on the recommendation of an assessor. To fulfil this role Counties may appoint County Assessors for each adventurous activity, or it is possible to use a suitably qualified external assessor. The assessor will provide the Commissioner with a recommendation based on an assessment of the applicant against the relevant assessment checklist.

A permit is time limited up to a maximum of five years at which point it expires. If you wish to continue leading the activity for young people you will need to apply for a new permit. The process for getting a new permit when a permit has expired is exactly the same as getting a first permit (get an assessor to assess you, assessor will provide a recommendation to your Commissioner who will be able to grant a permit once they’ve checked the other areas).

There is no prerequisite training required to gain any permit. So as long as you can show that you are to the required level of technical competence and experience, it does not matter how you reached that level. However many people will have either undertaken training accredited by National Governing Bodies, be regular participants, or have obtained experience through a club. Experience gained as a young person is also valid. There are also no age limitations to gaining a permit, so as long as the applicant has the skills and experience required, it is quite feasible for a young person to gain a permit.

Types of Permits

Permit Type	Age Restrictions	Allows For	Doesn’t Allow	Useful For
Personal	Maximum age 17. No minimum age	Taking part in the activity with others who hold personal permits	Leading the activity for anyone without a permit	Allowing young people to progress in an activity by practising with their peers
Leadership	No minimum or maximum age	Leading the activity for a group of young people while with them	Remotely supervising an activity for multiple groups	Introducing and training young people in an activity by working directly with them
Supervisory	No minimum or maximum age	Remotely supervising an activity for multiple groups	Approving groups to take part in an activity without remotely supervising them	Developing young people by giving them an opportunity for supervised responsibility

County Training Contacts

Hillwalking Team

The Hillwalking Team organise and run training and assessment weekends throughout the year. You’ll need to attend and pass one of these if you’re looking for walking permits.

First Response (module 10a/10b)

County First Aid Trainer contact information:

Oliver.Cunliffe@Staffordshirescouts.org.uk

Able to provide online and in person first aid training although an equipment rental fee will apply as the county do not own first aid training equipment.