NTS Report 4 Aug 2010 - National Trust for Scotland

17
The Need for Vision
NTS must embed its core purposes in all its work
what it is actually for. There has to be a Mission Statement
round which all stakeholders can rally.
R21: The Review recommends that a working group be
established to produce a draft Mission Statement for Trustees in
April 2011 emphasising the core purposes and Principles –
Conservation, Access, Enjoyment and Education.
The Group should be set up by the Transition Committee,
proposed on page 10 of this report, in order to invite submissions
from members, staff, volunteers and external stakeholders at an
early stage. Its mandate should be based on the issues which we
identify in the following sections:
It will be for the Trustees to decide how to take forward the
report of the Group. We believe there are good reasons, in the
spirit of engagement advocated in this report, in the Mission
Statement thereafter being debated at the September 2011
AGM .
Not in a Vacuum
The Review has considered how the purposes and Principles can
be rooted in the daily work and forward planning of the National
Trust for Scotland. It makes the following proposals:
The Purposes and the Principles
The National Trust for Scotland Order Confirmation Acts of
1935 and 1938 state that the charity’s core purposes are
Conservation, Access and Enjoyment.
The legislation does not prioritise any of these purposes, leaving
the Trust free to interpret and manage them in a generally coordinated
way. We recognise that the language used 80 years
ago in the Acts may require updating, although the terms used
cannot be altered until a new Bill is introduced at a later stage in
the Scottish Parliament.
The Principles, written between 1999 and 2004, state how NTS
purposes should apply in the 21st century.
The Trust should consider merging the Conservation, Access,
Enjoyment and Education Principles into a single document.
In the meantime, it is essential that these are understood and
‘lived’ by Trustees, staff and volunteers.
We make the following proposals:
Trustee Commitment
P2: The Review proposes that Trustees should commit to putting
Conservation, Access, Enjoyment and Education at the centre of
their work.
We believe that an early statement to this effect by the new
Trustees will give direction to the charity and will provide
reassurance to the many members who have expressed fears that
it has lost its way in recent years.
Induction and Training
P3: The Review proposes that all Trustees and directors should
have formal training in all of the Trust’s Principles.
P4: The Review proposes that all of the Trust’s Principles
should be a mandatory part of all staff induction procedures.
Internal conflicts can often be traced back to a lack of adequate
training. Staff and Trustees should receive training in all of the
NTS Principles.
The Strategic Plan
P5: The Review proposes that the Principles should underpin
both the Strategic and corporate plans, and should be cited in
both documents.
A Triple Bottom Line
P6: The Review proposes that Conservation should form part of
a triple bottom line in all NTS decision-making, alongside
Finance and People.
No decisions should be reached at any level of the Trust without
participants being required to certify that they have considered
their impact upon conservation, the budget and people.
This proposal is consistent with other recommendations made in
this report about the need for balanced decision-making.
Education
NTS arranges over 100,000 individual visits by schoolchildren
to Trust properties each year. In addition, it organises a series of
events and activities to engage people of all ages in its
conservation work.
These are excellent means of delivering NTS core purposes –
particularly access and enjoyment – to the next generation and of
building up future support.
Advocacy
A Future for Our
Past: some of
the 100,000
schoolchildren
who enjoy NTS
properties every
year – learning
what has been
handed down to
their generation
and what they
will pass on one
day.
NTS has a wider role than simply owning and preserving
properties. It was established ‘for Scotland’ and, in this
capacity, should be working through advocacy, influence and
persuasion to ensure effective conservation throughout the
country.
Financial difficulties have limited what the Trust has been able
to do in this area in recent years. The new Board should,
however, aim to help the charity again find its voice as an
independent advocate for natural and cultural conservation.
With expert staff and advisers, it is well placed to advance
debate and policy development.
In the section of this report headed ‘For the Benefit of the
Nation’ (pp36 to 37) we explore ways in which NTS can engage
more fully in such work in partnership with other heritage
organisations and elected representatives.