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Board Champions

1. Introduction

1.1. This paper presents an update on the Board Champions initiative and the proposed Board Champions Terms of References for Board approval.

2. Background

2.1 At the Agency Board meeting on 27 February 2024, the Board approved the Board Champions initiative to reflect the role of Board members in adding value and engaging at strategic level to work with SEPA’s Executive team and colleagues on priority areas of work. Board Champions are advisory at strategic level and not involved in decision-making. Board members were given the opportunity to volunteer for areas where Board Champions are required, in discussion with the Board Chair.

2.2 To reflect SEPA’s priorities for 2024-2025 nine groups were approved by the Board at its meeting on 28 May 2024: Communications/PR, Digital, Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (EPAS), Flood Services, Regulation (with a focus on the Outcome Based Collaborative Regulation (OBCR) pilot), Risk, Transformation, VIBES Awards and Water resilience. A further group was added on Procurement at the 25 June 2024 Board meeting. In July and August 2024 further groups were added on Health & Safety and Performance, following requests by the Chair.

2.3 The CLT leads, and Board Champions are presented in the following table:

Topic	CLT Lead(s)	Board Champion(s)
Communications/PR	Kirsty-Louise Campbell	Craig Hume
Digital (cross-organisational group and subset of Transformation)	Angela Milloy	David Hunter, Lorraine McMillan
Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (EPAS)	Lin Bunten	Harpreet Kohli
Flood services	Alex Flucker	Harpreet Kohli, Carol Evans
Health and Safety	Kirsty Paterson and Alex Flucker	Nicola Gordon
Performance	Kirsty-Louise Campbell	Lindsay MacDonald
Procurement	Angela Milloy	David Hunter, Lindsay MacDonald, Lorrain McMillan
Regulation OBCR pilot	Lin Bunten	Sue Paterson, Keith Rosser
Risk	Kirsty-Louise Campbell	Lindsay MacDonald
Transformation (Transformation involves the full board who need to be involved in the decision making but this group is required for detailed work).	Nicole Paterson, Kirsty-Louise Campbell and Angela Milloy	Carol Evans, Nicola Gordon, Keith Rosser
VIBES Awards	Lin Bunten and Kirsty-Louise Campbell	Craig Hume
Water resilience	Lin Bunten	Lindsay MacDonald

2.3 As noted at the Board meeting on 28 May 2024, the CLT and management leads for each topic worked up Terms of Reference (ToRs) which they discussed and agreed with their Champions so that it is clear what the expectations, anticipated outcomes, and timescales for the work are.

2.4 These ToRs are now being shared with the full Board for information and awareness, and Board approval, and are collated in Appendix 1.

2.5 As agreed by the Board on 28 May 2024, high level updates on activity under each area will be presented at every Board meeting with board members having the opportunity to contribute to updates either in advance in writing or verbally at the meeting. The Agency Board Chair will also feed insights into discussions with board members and record alongside members appraisals. The groups will be kept under review with new ones added and others closed as appropriate to the current priorities and needs of the organisation. Annual reports will be produced for the Board from February 2025.

3. Recommendations

3.1 The Board is asked to approve the full set of ToRs for the Board Champion groups in Appendix 1.

Appendix 1: Board Champions Terms of Reference

The following are proposed for Board approval:

1. Communications and PR
2. Digital
3. Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (EPAS)
4. Flood services
5. Health & Safety
6. Outcome Based Collaborative Regulation (OBCR)
7. Performance
8. Procurement (to follow – draft ToR currently with Board Champions for approval)
9. Risk
10. Transformation
11. VIBES Awards
12. Water Resilience