The Ranger Development Partnership

The Ranger Development Partnership is an partnership between SCRA and a selection of Ranger employers, manager and organisations that influence Rangering on a political and national level. 

Background

In 2006, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) announced that they wished to coordinate a Ranger Review – a review of the Rangers in Scotland policy statement agreed in 1995 which determined the direction and funding support for Scotland’s Rangers over the intervening 11 years. This review should also reflect the revised ‘Enjoying the Outdoors’. Changing political and environmental issues had meant that the profession needed to respond in new ways to the new context within which Rangers play a key role, and a refreshed vision and aim for Ranger Services was deemed to be needed.

SNH were keen that the new policy on Rangers should not be an SNH policy – but a more inclusive statement of nationally agreed aims for Rangers and Ranger Services in Scotland. This was in response to the ongoing ‘On the Ground’ partnership, which in 2006 and 2007 developed into SEARS – the Scottish Environmental and Rural Services grouping. This grouping meant that a range of Governmental bodies involved in managing the natural and cultural heritage of Scotland, several of whom are direct Ranger employers as well as funders, were now working in much closer partnership and it was appropriate that the new policy on Rangers should reflect the aims of all the SEARS family, as well as the needs of employers. Alongside the SEARS partners of SNH, Forestry Commission Scotland, Cairngorm National Park Authority, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and Historic Scotland, partners were also invited to the Ranger Review representing Private Estates employing Rangers (Hoddom and Kinmount Estate), the National Trust for Scotland, Local Authorities (represented by CoSLA) and SCRA as an independent body representing Rangers from across employers and across Scotland. 

In late 2007, the Ranger Review concluded, and whilst initially, the process was to refresh and revise the way in which SNH managed their grant relationship with Rangers and review the aims and objectives of this, an announcement in late 2007 from the Scottish Government meant that the grant aid relationship between SNH and Local Authorities would come to an end in 2009. 

Up until this point, SNH had grant aided Ranger Services approximately £3m a year; the Government announcement meant that £2.2m of this which was given to local Authorities, would now be dived between Authorities directly by Central Government via the new Single Outcome Agreement process. 

This meant that a new policy that covered grant conditions was no longer required, and the policy was shortened and became ‘Scotland’s Rangers’. This is the new national policy, agreed between SEARS partners and others (including SCRA) that outlines the key areas of work, vision and aims that all Ranger Services should follow. 

Work of the Partnership

SCRA felt that the partnerships formed during the Ranger Review should continue, and, in light of the SCRA Development Plan (LINK to PDFs), SCRA’s desire to play a key role in the support of the profession in Scotland, and in light of the reduced influence that SNH played (as a result of no longer grant aiding a large number of services across Scotland), there was a need to deliver support to the profession to maintain a nationally identifiable and cohesive role for Rangers in Scotland. 

Today, the Ranger Development Partnership and SCRA have;

  • Undertaken a significant body of work to identify Core Skills and Competencies of Rangers across Scotland
  • Link these Core Skills and Competencies to National Occupational Standards
  • Reviewed current induction procedures and made recommendations to support employer indication of Ranger Staff
  • Recommended a system of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to help foster and support a robust, well trained and effective Ranger Service and support employers and individuals in securing the best for the profession
  • Developed and run the Ranger Rendezvous – Scotland’s largest ever gathering of Rangers
  • Influenced decisions at a political level by engaging directly with Scottish Ministers
  • Developed the Ranger Standards Manual as an online resource to support  the profession
  • Developed a new Countryside Portal and website to support Countryside Professionals and Rangers across Scotland
  • Are facilitating the Ranger Manager Forum, developing work undertaken by SCRA in 2006

Much of this work is detailed on this website.

Members of the Partnership

Currently, the Ranger Development Partnership draws membership from;

And is supported by Perth and Kinross Council Ranger Service

Currently. the group is Chaired by Niall Lobley, SCRA Chair, (Perth and Kinross Council) and includess Peter Crane from Cairngorm National Park Authority, Lisa Duggan from Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Hamish Murray from Forestry Commission Scotland, Bob Tevendale from Historic Scotland, Duncan Stevenson from National Trust for Scotland, Charlie Woodward from Clydemuirshiel Regional Park, Donald Balsillie from Stirling Council and Bridget Finton from Scottish Natural Heritage.

Future Work of the Partnership

The future of the Ranger Development Partnership will cover key aspects including;

  • Further development, piloting and launching of the Ranger Standards Manual, associated CPD and training agencies liaison
  • Looking into Single Outcome Agreements and considering the development of Best Practice examples in Ranger Service involvement in SOA’s
  • Responding to the changing context of Ranger Services and ensuring that adequate support is available for Rangers in Scotland
  • Coordinating a second Ranger Rendezvous in 2010

If you would like to find out more about the Ranger Development Partnership, the organisations that participate, or the work that we do, please contact Niall Lobley, the current convenor of the Partnership and Chair of SCRA.