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Quarter 2 2024-2025 Corporate Performance Summary Report

Executive summary

This year’s Annual Operating Plan includes 12 performance measures. Each quarter we will produce a report to explain how we are progressing with those measures. This is the second quarterly report covering the period July 2024 – September 2024.

In the second quarter we are on track to achieve 10 of the 12 performance measures. We have two measures with a status of ‘partially achieved’ -

1. measure six: rates of waste to landfill in annual Scottish household waste data is reducing and 
2. measure eight: percentage of customer complaints responded to within statutory timescales is maintaining. 

Action is being taken to improve performance against both measures and it should be noted that measure six is a long term Scottish performance measure and whilst we are responsible for reporting Scottish data, we are not wholly responsible for achieving this measure.

Key highlights this quarter are:

• Net zero - there has been a 13.9% decline in our direct emissions between quarter one of 2022-2023 and quarter one of 2024-2025.
• Climate resilience - all daily flood guidance statements were issued on time.
• Business environmental performance - we have used 32 interventions to tackle environmental crime and concluded our investigations and enforcement at 56 illegal sites.
• Our organisation and transformation - percentage of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and Environmental Information Requests (EIR) responded to within statutory timescales is at 92% in July and 96% in August and September.

For the past four months we have been working to develop a new performance framework and reporting mechanism to enable effective scrutiny of delivery of our objectives. In this report, where possible, we have added information on some additional KPI’s and have developed a suite of KPI’s to focus on key areas of our organisation.

During quarter two, consideration has also been given to developing KPI’s that focus on customer experience, particularly around the Contact Centre, Managers and Agents. Examples include team data accuracy rate and customer satisfaction score.

We will continue to develop both our KPI’s and reporting style in the upcoming period.

Performance summary

A high-level summary of the progress of each performance measure for quarter one is below.

Number	Priority	Aim	Measure	Status
1	Net Zero	Greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.	Annual greenhouse gas emissions in the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory - Reducing1.	Achieving
2	Net Zero	Greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.	Annual reports of greenhouse gas emission by SEPA - Reducing.	Achieving
3	Climate resilience	The impact of flooding and water scarcity is reduced.	Number of flood warnings and alerts issued by SEPA - Maintaining.	Achieving
4	Climate resilience	The impact of flooding and water scarcity is reduced.	Proportion of developments approved in accordance with SEPA's advice on flood - Increasing.	Achieving
5	Water environment	The condition of the water environment is improving.	Classification of water bodies across Scotland - Increasing2.	Achieving
6	Resource efficiency	Resource efficiency is improved.	Rates of waste to landfill in annual Scottish household wastedata - Reducing3.	Partially achieving
7	Business environmental performance	Interventions to tackle environmental crime are increasing.	Number of successful interventions per year - Increasing.	Achieving
8	Our organisation	Enabling aims.	Percentage of customer complaints responded to within statutory timescales - maintaining.	Partially achieving
9	Our organisation	Enabling aims.	Number of vehicles in our fleet to electric and enhancing our EV charger facilities - increasing.	Achieving
10	Our organisation	Enabling aims.	Percentage of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and Environmental Information Requests (EIRs) responded to within statutory timescale - increasing.	Achieving
11	Our organisation	Enabling aims.	Percentage efficiency savings - maintaining.	Achieving
12	Our organisation	Enabling aims.	Percentage of invoices paid within 10 days - maintaining.	Achieving

^{1, 2, 3} These are national outcomes for Scotland and SEPA plays a contributing role.

Suite of organisational KPI's summary

KPI No	KPI	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance	Status
12	Employee Voluntary Turnover Rate.	7.89% for all leavers 2023-2024 and 6.05% voluntary leavers (excluding deceased, fixed term contract and voluntary severance).	Less than 6.05%.	The voluntary turnover rate for quarter two is 1.06%.	Achieving
13	Number of "Near miss/hazard spotted" reports submitted.	2024 baseline established as 16 spotted and 14 near miss reports.	Increase the number of hazards spotted and near misses reported to H&S. Aiming for an increase on the 2023/24 figures.	In quarter two we had 17 spotted reports and seven near miss reports.	Achieving
14	Number of reportable health and safety incidents (Number of RIDDOR).	2024 baseline established as 0.	Maintain or achieve a reduction in the number of reportable incidents each year, aiming for a zero-incident target.	0 reportable health and safety incidents.	Achieving
15	Net Promoter Score (NPS) from external stakeholders - Member of Scottish Parliament sentiment towards SEPA.	Baseline of 69% established in 2023.	Greater than 69%.	Data will be available from December 2024.	Not reported as yet
16	Customer experience NPS.	2024 baseline to be established.	This will be determined once the baseline is established.	Will report in quarter three.	Not reported as yet
17	Employee engagement score.	2024 baseline to be established.	Maintain at 2024 baseline or above.	Will report in quarter 3.	Not reported as yet
18	Absenteeism rate.	Overall organisational lost working time for 2023-2024 was 3.09%.	Maintain at 2024 baseline or above.	For the period 01/04/24 - 30/09/24 overall organisational lost working time due to sickness absence was 2.84%.	Achieving
19	Absenteeism rate due to workplace stress.	The organisational lost working time due to stress and mental health in 2023-2024 was 0.9%.	Maintain at 2025 baseline or above.	For the period 01/04/24 - 30/09/24 sickness absence due to stress and mental health reasons was 0.66%.	Achieving
20	Gender balance in leadership positions.	As at 31/03/2024 females account for 50.6% of employees being paid at Band A, B and CLT levels.	50% or above.	Females account for 48.6% of employees in Band B+ roles.	Achieving
21	Debt recovery rate.	A baseline will be established by calculating the debt recovery rate within 90 days from the previous fiscal year. This will be in place for quarter three report.	Achieve a debt recovery rate of 80% or higher for all receivables within 90 days of the due date.	The cumulative outturn for quarter two for the rate of debt recovered within 90 days of the due date is 89.5%.	Achieving
22	Percentage of up-to-date Business Continuity Plans (BCPs).	Establish baseline using the percentage of BCPs that were current and compliant with SEPA's review schedule in the previous year.	Achieve and maintain 100% of business continuity plans being reviewed and updated within the scheduled timeframe each year.	We will report this in quarter three.	Not reported as yet
23	Number of security breaches.	Establish baseline using the number of security breaches reported in the previous year.	Achieve a year-over-year reduction in the number of security breaches, aiming for zero incidents annually though enhances security measures.	We will report this in quarter three.	Not reported as yet
24	Number of reportable security breaches to Information Commissioner.	Zero.	Zero.	We will report this in quarter three.	Not reported as yet
25	Time to recruit from application to offer.	2024 baseline established as 61 days.	40 days.	In quarter two, the current average for pre-employment screening is 61 days.	Partially achieving
26	Average cost per hire	2024 baseline established as £2,000 per role.	Reduce by 10%.	In quarter two the average cost per hire is £2,000.	Partially achieving
27	Percentage of mandatory training completed.	2024 baseline established as 80%.	90%.	During October, our Cyber Security training package had a 94.43% completion rate.	Achieving
28	Number of employee development activities completed.	2024 baseline established as: 124 facilitated workshops run, Six learning plans created and 135 E-learning courses available.	Increase the number of (relevant) workshops, learning plans and e-learning courses to meet employee needs.	During quarter two we have: Facilitated 31 workshops, Published five learning plans, with another three in progress (Planning, Governance & Integrated Authorisation Framework) and Published 181 resources in Discover library.	Achieving
29	Number of SEPA solely owned or leased buildings.	A baseline of 11 buildings has been established.	A reduction of up to two workspaces per annum.	In quarter two we are progressing the exit of the SEPA leased workspace in Stornoway to colocation with Comhairle nan Eilean Sar (December 2024), and Arbroath workspace (by 12 March 2025).	Achieving

Performance updates

Net Zero. Our ambition is to fully play our part in helping Scotland become a net zero country by 2024 and reduce our own emissions towards net zero.

AOP measure 1: Annual greenhouse gas emissions in the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory – reducing

Status: Achieving

This measure and measures five and six (rates of waste to landfill in annual Scottish household waste data – reducing, and classification of water bodies across Scotland – increasing) are long term, Scottish performance measures. Whilst we are responsible for reporting Scottish data, we are not wholly responsible for achieving these measures.

The Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory provides a valuable picture of the amounts of pollutants released in Scotland from SEPA-regulated industrial sites. The 2023 SPRI data were published in September and show that the global warming potential of greenhouse gas emissions from SEPA-regulated industrial sites, went down by 13.5% (1.51 megatonnes CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent)), between 2022 and 2023. Information reported by some operators indicated that changes in production for the major emitters this year have contributed to a decrease in emissions therefore it would not be appropriate to draw conclusions from the decrease seen in 2023, however there continues to be a long-term downward trend overall.

AOP measure 2: Annual reports of greenhouse gas emission by SEPA – Reducing

Status: Achieving

As Scotland’s environmental regulator, we are requiring and encouraging businesses to reduce their impacts. We must do the same. Our Net Zero Routemap sets out our goal to reduce all our greenhouse gas emissions to at least net zero by 2035 and an interim target to reduce our direct greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by March 2026. This means our target is 1481 tCO2e by March 2026.

We report our greenhouse gas emissions one quarter in arrears due to the time lag in securing data (e.g. from travel expenses, which have a 60- day claim window). This report therefore relates to quarter one of 2024- 2025.

Overall, there has been a 13.9% decline in our direct emissions between quarter one of 2022-2023 and quarter one of 2024-2025. Some data relating to electricity use in some buildings and confirmed fuel use by Sir John Murray, were not available for this report.

Our target is to reduce emissions by 15% over a two-year period; whilst this quarter’s information shows a positive trend, the total emissions reduction at this time is not sufficient to meet our target.

KPI's to support this theme:

KPI 01	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Tonnes of CO2e emissions by SEPA.	1742 tCO2e in 2022/23.	Reduce direct emissions by 15% by March 2026 (Target: 1481 tCO2e). Reduce all greenhouse gas emissions to at least net zero by 2035.	In quarter one (we report one quarter in arrears) our greenhouse gas emissions were 395.03tCO2e. This represents a reduction of 3.5% on emissions in the same quarter of 2023-2024. For further information please see text above.

Climate resilience: Our ambition is that the damaging impacts of floods and droughts is reduced, and that operators are prepared for and resilient to the impacts of a changing climate.

AOP measure 3: Number of flood warnings and alerts issued by SEPA - maintaining

Status: Achieving

Our 24/7 flood forecasting and warning service enables people, businesses, and communities to take action to protect themselves. We also advise civil contingency responders before and during flood events. This is part of Scotland’s multi-agency emergency planning and incident response.

Every day we issue a daily flood guidance statement to responders (more than 900 people) to assist with tactical planning decisions around flooding. Ahead of flooding periods, we issue regional flood alerts and local flood warnings to inform the public. We operate a network of rainfall, river, and coastal water level gauges. These feed into our real-time forecasting models, along with meteorological forecasts. A dedicated communication system issues the flood guidance statements, alerts and warnings.

All flood warnings and alerts were issued in quarter two – this was 85 regional flood alerts and 45 local flood warnings.

All daily flood guidance statements were issued during quarter two.

Surface water flooding was experienced in September in areas such as Stornoway with ex Hurricane Ernesto bringing unsettled weather at a time of high spring tides resulting in coastal flooding.

During this quarter, we upgraded our flood warning messaging system. The new system went live on 5 September with no disruption to our services. The new system offers enhanced digital capabilities meeting Scotland Digital Standard requirements.

KPI 02	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage of daily Flood Guidance Statements and Scottish Flood Forecasts issued on time.	A 2023-2024 baseline has been established as 84% by 10:30 and 98% by 11:00.	Maintain at 2023-2024 baseline or above.	For quarter two we issued 87% of daily Flood Guidance Statements and Scottish Flood Forecasts by 10:30 and 100% by 11:00.

AOP measure 4: Proportion of developments approved in accordance with SEPA’s advice on flood risk – increasing

Status: Achieving

We deliver flood risk advice, evidence and guidance for the land use planning system, to ensure new developments can avoid flood risk and help existing communities and services become more resilient to flooding. We take a proportionate risk-based approach to focus our site-specific advice to the highest risk places and work with partner authorities to support the implementation of National Planning Framework 4.

In quarter two, approximately 99% of developments have been approved in accordance with SEPA’s advice on flood risk.

Consultations on flood risk advice	Quarter 1	Quarter 2
Number of consultations for flood risk advice from planning authorities responded to.	361	429
Number of consultations that were new applications previously not advised on.	185	203
Number of applications approved to go ahead in flood risk areas against SEPA's advice during the same time period notified to Scottish Ministers.	2	5

The 2023-2024 quarter four level was 70% within agreed consultation timescale, so we have seen a 7% increase this year.

KPI 03	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage of responses to planning consultations within time.	2024 baseline to be established.	Increase the percentage of consultations responded to within time.	78% within agreed consultation timescale.

Water environment: Our ambition is for the water environment to be protected with no deterioration of condition and that more of our water environment is improved to a good or better condition.

AOP measure 5: Classification of water bodies across Scotland – increasing

Status: Achieving

This measure and measures one and six (annual greenhouse gas emissions in the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory – reducing, and rates of waste to landfill in annual Scottish household waste data – reducing) are long term, Scottish performance measures. Whilst we are responsible for reporting Scottish data, we are not wholly responsible for achieving these measures.

Classification is the approach (based on EU and UK guidance) used to define the state of Scotland’s water environment and is produced annually for all water bodies in Scotland. We currently analyse results for 3652 water bodies across Scotland.

Surface water bodies (rivers, lochs, transitional and coastal) are classified using a system of five quality classes (high, good, moderate, poor, bad). Ground water bodies are classified as good or poor.

Since the start of water environment classification for River Basin Management Planning in 2008, the overall condition of Scotland’s water bodies has improved each year. The percentage of surface water bodies that were classed as good or better in 2008 was 61% and is now 65.6%, demonstrating an improvement of 4.6% since 2008. The number of surface water bodies classed as bad overall condition has decreased from 224 in 2008 to 57 in 2023, an improvement of 74.6% of these water bodies that indicates an upward trend in overall condition.

In July we completed the 2023 classification of the water environment and expect the 2023 State of the Environment Report to be published before the end of 2024.

Resource efficiency: Our ambition is to fully play our part in helping Scotland to transition to a circular economy, and that the management of waste does not cause harm to the environment or communities.

AOP measure 6: Rates of waste to landfill in annual Scottish household waste data – reducing

Status: Partially achieving

As previously mentioned, this measure and measures one and five (annual greenhouse gas emissions in the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory – reducing, and classification of water bodies across Scotland – increasing) are long term, Scottish performance measures. Whilst we are responsible for the reporting of Scottish data, we are not wholly responsible for achieving these measures.

The priority areas of activity identified in the Annual Operating Plan for both of these measures are in development and we are currently considering areas for evaluating our performance, including:

Delivering actions on digital disruption of illegal waste collection and landowner roles and responsibilities

The purpose of this project is to detect and disrupt illegal waste operators advertising their waste collection businesses on social media, principally Facebook. It is our assessment that approximately 40% – 50% of profiles are used by unregistered waste carriers, and therefore members of the public using them to dispose of their own waste may be contributing to fly tipping and other waste crimes. Our disruption efforts are focused on both overt challenge of operators and follow-up formal enforcement when appropriate. Our tools range from public messaging on profiles via telephone calls and Short Messaging Service texts to operators, advisory letters, potential removal of profiles, use of statutory notices and monetary penalties for any appropriate offence.

To date, the project has achieved:

Action	Quarter 1	Quarter 2
Information Notices Issued	12	13
Profiles closed	23	24
Texts to unlicensed operators	39	39
Public Facebook posts	51	51
Waste Carrier applications received	5	7
Fixed Monetary Penalties issued	1	4

Prepare for the implementation of UK Extended Producer Responsibility reforms

The ambition for this project is to move the full cost of dealing with packaging waste from households away from local taxpayers and councils to the packaging producers (applying the ‘polluter pays principle’), giving producers responsibility for the costs of their packaging throughout its life cycle. Packaging producers have been enrolling in the UK Report Packaging Data system and have started reporting their data for 2023. The consultation on new Materials Facility charging scheme has closed and responses are currently being analysed.

Progress the implementation of digital waste tracking

We continue to support the Defra led programme to a UK wide Digital Waste Tracking system. In quarter two, we have undertaken a further deep dive into what our (reporting and data) requirements are from the UK system and these are now being collated with the other three nations agency requirements (Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, Northern Ireland Environment Agency).

Business environmental performance: Our ambition is to protect the environment and communities from harm; for Scotland to be an inhospitable place for environmental crime and regulation enables businesses to reduce their environmental impact.

AOP measure 7: Number of successful interventions per year - increasing

Status: Achieving

Our target for this year is to increase the number of interventions we take to tackle environmental crime, and as such cause the number of illegal sites to reduce or downgrade in risk.

Illegal Sites and illegal operators are those which are operating without the required environmental authorisation or in contravention of environmental legislation.

We have deployed 32 interventions in quarter two.

Sample of the types of interventions used to demonstrate the breadth of actions we have taken:

• Multi-agency days of action: targeted inspections with partner agencies.
• Intelligence: using intelligence to detect high risk environmental crime.
• Use of warrants: supplementing our Powers of Entry and Investigation by obtaining approval for large-scale excavations.
• Working with partners: disrupting simple planning applications of illegal operators.
• Trading standards: Targeting unlicensed operators advertising on social media.
• Use of Powers of Entry and Investigation: use of notices to prevent disturbance of deposited waste and require onsite plant to carry our small-scale excavations.
• Online operators: targeting online operators - "same day/next day" pick up.
• Statutory notices: service of statutory notices to remove deposited waste.
• Waste exports: waste exports stopped and returned to site for inspection.
• Licence suspension: suspension of ABTO status and partial suspension of SEPA Authorisation of a site associated with environmental crime.

Illegal Sites and illegal operators mean those which are operating without the required environmental authorisation or in contravention of environmental legislation.

The successful interventions we take should result in a continued downward trend in illegal sites, along with a continued increase in Enforcement Actions we take. This quarter we have concluded our investigations and enforcement at 56 illegal sites.

Enforcement actions include final warning letters, information notices issued for enforcement/interventions purposes, statutory notices, Fixed Monetary Penalties, Variable Monetary Penalties and enforcement undertakings.

We have a legal obligation across various sectors to complete permit reviews. We must complete these within the legally required or internally set deadlines.

KPI 04	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage of statutory reviews completed on time.	Percentage of statutory reviews completed on time in the previous year.	80% of statutory reviews completed within the required timeframe.	In quarter two, the year-to-date percentage completed is 1.3%.

Progress with completing the 2024-2025 reviews has been restricted as we have focussed on completing the backlog of 66 outstanding reviews in the Waste Treatment and Waste Incineration sectors as well as determining the new Medium Combustion Plant Permit applications. Prioritising our activity across the range of statutory reviews during 2024-2025 means likelihood of achieving the 80% completion target is low.

KPI 05	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage of statutory reports published by the scheduled date.	On-time publication rate from the previous year.	100%	Will be reported in quarter three.

KPI 06	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage of applications determined within statutory determination times.	92% for all applications, 75% for permitting (licences) and 97% for permitting (registrations).	Increase the percentage of applications of determined within statutory timelines.	In quarter two we are on track to achieve this target with 95% for permitting (all applications), 82% for permitting (licences) and 97% for permitting (registrations).

Our organisation and transformation: our ambition is to focus on our people as we ensure SEPA is an efficient, effective and sustainable organisation.

AOP measure 8: Percentage of customer complaints responded to within - maintaining

Status: Partially achieving

Our target for this year is to respond to 85% of complaints within the timescales set out in our complaints handling procedure. This reflects the measure set by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and recognises the fact that some complaints cannot be completed within the planned timescales, due to their seriousness or complexity.

In quarter two, we closed eight complaints, five at Stage 1 and three at Stage 2. Four of the Stage 1 complaints were closed within timescales; the fifth was completed in an extended period of ten days, due to key staff and also the complainant being on leave and not contactable at the time of complaint handling. The 10-day period complies with SPSO guidelines due to those extenuating circumstances but remains a failure to meet the SPSO 5-day deadline for closing Stage 1 complaints.

Two of the Stage 2 complaints were closed within timescales. The third was closed in 28 days, again due to key staff and also the complainant being on leave and not contactable at the time of complaint handling. This failed to meet the SPSO 20-day deadline for closing Stage 2 complaints.

Overall, we responded to 75% of complaints within timescales in quarter two; consequently, our performance status is categorised as partially achieving for this period.

KPI 07	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage of customer complaints responded to within recommended timescales.	89% of complaints responded to within the timescale in Q1 2024.	90% or higher response rate within the recommended timescales.	In quarter two we responded to 75% of complaints within timescales. Please see further update above.

AOP measure 9: Number of vehicles in our fleet to electric and enhancing our EV charger facilities – increasing

Status: Achieving

This year we are looking to increase the number of electric vehicles in our fleet and increase the number of electric charging facilities over our estate. Scottish Government has approved our plan to replace our fleet vehicles with electric vehicles and our sourcing strategy is complete.

We are also aware of some issues with our charging infrastructure that have rolled over from our previous provider alongside the age of the equipment. We are working to resolve these issues, with two replacement units due to be fitted at our Angus Smith building early in quarter three.

KPI 08	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Fleet - Percentage of vehicles that are ultra low emissions vehicles (ULEV).	October 2024 baseline established of 25% (16 of 64).	34% (22 of 64).	In quarter two, 16 vehicles in SEPA's fleet are currently EV's and therefore Zero Emission (ZE).We aim to place orders for an additional six cars to replace aging, diesel cars with ZE cars. These are expected to be delivered in quarter four bringing the total to 22 ZE vehicles in the Fleet.

AOP measure 10: Percentage of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and Environmental Information Requests (EIR) responded to within statutory timescales – increasing

Status: Achieving

This year, our aim is to process at least 90% of requests within 20 working days by the end of March 2025.

KPI 09	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and Environmental Information Requests (EIRs) responded to within statutory timescales.	82%.	90%.	in quarter two we achieved 92% in July and 96% in August and September.

AOP measure 11: Percentage efficiency savings – maintaining

Status: Achieving

In the 2022 Resource Spending Review, the Scottish Government set an expectation that public bodies would deliver annual recurring efficiency savings of at least 3% of their cash revenue grant in aid. In 2024-2025 this equated to £1.2m of SEPA’s revenue budget.

To achieve a balanced budget in 2024-25 we set a vacancy management savings target of £3.5m, which is £2.3m higher than the target required by Scottish Government.

At the end of quarter two we are on track to meet our budgeted target and achieving this measure.

KPI 10	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage efficiency savings per annum in Grant in Aid.	0% (1st April, resetting every year).	3% (year end 31st March).	We are maintaining this performance and are on target in quarter two.

AOP measure 12: Percentage of invoices paid within 10 days – maintaining

Status: Achieving

We are working to the Scottish Government target to pay all valid invoices within 10 working days.

KPI 11	Baseline	Target	Q2 Performance
Percentage of Invoices Paid within 10 days.	Calculate the percentage of invoices paid within 10 days from the previous fiscal year.	Achieve a minimum of 90% of all supplier invoices paid within 10 working days each quarter.	In quarter two we have paid 94.3% of invoices within 10 days.