So what precisely do the Scout Association and Warwickshire Police have in Common, I wondered?
A quick glance at the Scout Trust Association Trust Corporation on the Charity Commission website led me to trustee Dan Wood. According to Linkedin Dan Wood, Lead Manager at Skills for Health was previously Chair of Operations at the Scout Association (September 2007 - September 2010) and previously he was Chairman of the Board of Directors / Trustees of the Youth Council (September 2004 - September 2006). Wood is a Common Purpose graduate - Meridian South West - 2009 Cohort.
An Internet search revealed that Keith Bristow, Chief Constable of Warwikshire Police is a Common Puprose Matrix Graduate. According to the Warwickshire Police website
in 1997 he was appointed as Staff Officer to the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (APCO).
ACPO has also been in the firing line this week following the eco-warrior spy scandal and it was revealed that this 'private company which is unaccountable to the public, will be subject to investigations by the Independant Police Complaints Commission, and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary [with] the Serious Organised Crime Agency likely to follow suit'.
On 21 January 2010, Hugh Orde, President of ACPO took part in a Common Purpose Leaders Questions event alongside Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, public opinion twister Peter Kelner, President of YouGov and mind bender Geoff Mulgan of the Young Foundation and formerly the founder and Directer of think-tank DEMOS. DEMOS Trustee Julia Middleton started Common Purpose in 1987.
Using scouts as traffic police sounds very much like a taster for the Big Society to me.
Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
