The governance structure for SCoPEd reflects the shared nature of the framework.

BACP, like all partners, is represented at every level of SCoPEd governance, to ensure that we can continue to look out for our members’ best interests as the collaboration carries on.

The partner organisations that have developed and adopted SCoPEd are:

  • Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions (ACC)
  • British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
  • British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC)
  • Human Givens Institute (HGI)
  • National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS)
  • UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

To support the implementation phase of the SCoPEd framework, the partners have collectively agreed to restructure the governance of the SCoPEd partnership to better meet the needs of the current work.   

There are four SCoPEd governance groups; the CEO Board, Delivery Group, Clinical Group and Communications Group which replace the previous groups (the SCoPEd Oversight Committee, the Technical Group, and Expert Reference Group). 

CEO Board

The CEO Board meets monthly and is made up of all the partner CEOs. It is independently chaired by Paul Buckley. Paul was previously chair of the SCoPEd Oversight Committee. Additional invitees, such as Experts by Experience (EbEs), the Delivery Group members, the chair of the Communications Group and the chair of the Clinical Group (CG), can also attend the CEO Board to offer advice and input as required.  

The CEO Board provides strategic leadership, ensures full integration of the SCoPEd framework within their own organisations, facilitates the collaboration required to enable the framework to be understood and implemented in the wider professional context and ensures ongoing impact monitoring and evaluation, including the development of an EDI strategy. The NHS Pathways project, a collaboration between five of the six SCoPEd partners (ACC, BPC, BACP, NCS and UKCP) to run a pilot programme to provide fully funded training for psychotherapeutic counselling within NHS Talking Therapies services, also reports to the CEO Board. 

Delivery Group 

The Delivery Group is independently chaired by Paul Buckley. Other members include the chair of the Communications Group and a project manager. The group acts as advisors and support to the CEO Board and carries out work as directed by them. The Delivery Group works closely with the Communications Group and Clinical Group to ensure cohesive working. 

Clinical Group 

This group is made of up representatives from each of the partner organisations who are practitioners and supervisors with experience in working with standards of education and training, competences, and wider frameworks, as well as having a knowledge of the relevant research and research methodology. 

The Clinical Group is a repositioning of the previous Technical Group (TG) whose primary role was to develop the framework. Its purpose is to help maintain the standards of the framework by making recommendations to the CEO Board and in response to commissions from the CEO Board to provide advice on any updates or amendments to the framework which it considers are required in the future.   

Communications Group 

The Communications Group includes representatives from each of the partner organisations. It meets every two weeks and is responsible for developing and delivering a joint communications strategy and creating joint communications in relation to SCoPEd and wider partnership work. 

Previous governance structure

SCoPEd Oversight Committee (SOC)

The SCoPEd Oversight Committee (SOC) was the governance body for the framework. The SOC was established when ACC, HGI and NCPS joined the original SCoPEd partners BACP, BPC and UKCP in November 2020. 

SCoPEd Technical Group (TG)

The SCoPEd Technical Group (TG) included representation from all of the partner organisations and undertook the main mapping of competences and practice standards. Each member of the TG had a range of teaching experience within counselling and psychotherapy training, from Level four diploma to MA or MSc programmes. 

SCoPEd Expert Reference Group (ERG)

The SCoPEd Expert Reference Group (ERG) scrutinised and signed off the work of the TG, the methodology used and the development of the framework.

The ERG included representation from all six partners and an independent chair. It was also supported in its research by an independent information analyst.

Individually the ERG are academic experts in the fields of counselling and psychotherapy, with experience of both Higher Education and Further Education. They represent a variety of different counselling approaches to ensure inclusivity.

Read more about the origins of SCoPEd

See also