Back to Meetings, agendas, and minutes

Board meeting - 28 November 2023

The one hundred and eighty-ninth meeting of the Agency Board took place on Tuesday 28 November 2023 via Microsoft Teams.

Clerk to the Board opening statement

The Clerk to the Board advised that the Scottish Government is offering Board members Cyber Resilience and Risk Training.

An email was circulated to Board members on 21 November 2023, and it was requested that should any Board members attend this training they notify the Clerk of the Board so that their time can be recorded against Board activities.

Chair's opening remarks

The Chair welcomed everyone to the public meeting, including Vincent Fitzsimons, deputising for David Pirie Executive Director, Evidence and Flooding, and Joanna Zwitserlood deputising for David Harley, Acting Chief Officer Circular Economy.

The Chair also welcomed Iain Berrill, Head of Technical Salmon Scotland, in attendance as a member of the public observing the Agency Board Meeting.

Matters arising

The Clerk to the Board provided an update. The following updates to the actions were noted:

Action 761 – SEPA will respond to the consultation and keep the Board updated via the CEO Report and/or as a separate Board item, as appropriate, going forward. Proposed closed.

Action 762 – An update is in the action note. Proposed closed.

Action 763 – The Scottish Government Sponsor team has been reminded of the need to rearrange attendance by the Cabinet Secretary; date for this still awaiting. Ongoing.

Action 764 – No Board members were able to attend the VIBES Awards Ceremony for SEPA. Proposed closed.

Action 765 – The staff member leading on this work (Dalgety Bay) presented to the Board at the Board’s Strategy meeting held on 24 October 2023. Proposed closed.

Action 766 – The text was changed in the CEO report as required prior to publication on the SEPA Website. Proposed closed.

Action 767 – This will be added to the Board Planner which will be considered by the Board at its February 2024 meeting. Ongoing.

Action 768 – A full update on the Regenerative SEPA target action is in the action note. Proposed closed.

Action 769 – Additional text has been added to the Quarter 2 performance (illegal sites) report to bring greater clarification. The discussion with the Deputy Chair was arranged but has been postponed and will be rescheduled subject to discussion of the performance report at the Board. Proposed closed.

Action 770 – A new Board Buddy group on Charging Schemes has been added to the Board Buddy register to be led by the Chief Finance Officer. Updates on the Board membership and work of this group will be provided through the Board Buddy register. This was discussed at the Finance meeting of the Audit & Risk Committee on 14 November 2023. Proposed closed.

Action 771 – A short briefing (“Seminar Session Action Update”) was added to the resource centre on Diligent Boards shortly after the September 2023 meeting with links to the Audit Scotland Report. Proposed closed.

Action 772 – Confirmation of the interim arrangements have been provided in paper SEPA 54/23. A full review of all Board Committee Membership will be undertaken in February 2024. Proposed closed.

Action 773 – The topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be added to the Board Planner which will be considered by the Board as its February 2024 meeting. Ongoing.

Chair's report

The Chair started his report by thanking the Head of Hydrology and Flooding and all staff members involved with SEPA flood warnings and advised that he has heard nothing but praise about how effective this service provided by SEPA has been.

The Chair provided a verbal update on his activities since the last Agency Board meeting in September 2023. The following was noted:

• A SEPA Board Buddy meeting on 5 October 2023 on Aquaculture.
• Visit to the new SEPA Edinburgh Office at Waverley Court on 10 October 2023.
• Visit to DRAX, Daldowie Fuel Plant, Uddingston, with the Labour Leader on 7 November 2023.
• Working with Scottish Government on recruitment and interviews for new SEPA Board members.

The Chair recognised the passing of Nick Kuenssberg who was a former member of SEPA’s Board, including as Deputy Chair, and acknowledged all the work that Nick had done across a range of programmes benefitting Scotland’s environment, cities and communities such as the Glasgow Strategic Drainage partnership. The Board noted that the Chair attended the memorial service for Nick Kuenssberg on 13 October 2023.

The Chair advised that the Board’s stakeholder event on 24 October 2023 on preparing the Corporate Plan and the strategy for the future had been well received with many compliments about the event from those invited.

Management reports

Chief Executive’s Report (SEPA 47/23)

Report: Chief Executive's Report

The Chief Executive introduced the report, highlighting the new format which clearly demonstrates the delivery of outcomes, and drawing attention to two areas; support to flood warning activities across Scotland in October 2023, and the disruption of waste crime.

In response to a question on historic deposit of waste at Lathalmond and the length of time it has taken to restore the site back to its original status, the Acting Chief Officer Compliance advised that in the future SEPA will be able to utilise powers that it does not currently have in the form of a Regulatory Notice, which is an enhancement of the Integrated Authorisation Framework (IAF). The Board noted that progress has been made to clear the site of waste, and that this had taken some time due to business failure and company insolvency on the part of the original operators, awaiting the outcome of criminal proceedings, and, more recently, discussions with the current owners. Staff within SEPA’s Environmental Performance team have been working with the owners of the site to ensure that the site is cleaned up.

In response to a question on the Enva composting site and certain types of waste not currently being accepted at this site, it was clarified by the Acting Chief Officer Compliance that the waste will be going to a legally licensed site as a short-term measure until the Enva site is able to upgrade their practices/methods.

Although not referred to in the CEO report, there was a query from a Board member on a published report from the Climate Change Committee which contains recommendations with implications for SEPA regarding higher water temperatures. The Board noted that Philip Matthews would discuss this offline with the Head of Hydrology and Flooding. The Board will also be kept updated on this.

Action: Head of Hydrology and Flooding / Executive Director Evidence and Flooding

A query was also raised on the paragraph on Anti-microbial resistance and pharmaceutical pollution and the long-term funding for this, particularly as the threat of anti-microbial resistance is going up the risk register and there is scope of integrated work across the public sector as a preventative and cost reduction measure. As the lead CLT member was not present to answer this query, the Acting Chief Officer, Performance and Innovation advised that she would get back to the Board on this. The Chief Finance Officer advised that SEPA received ring fenced funding for this and the Executive Director for Evidence and Flooding is in discussions with Scottish Government; it is hoped that the funding will continue but there are financial constraints across the public sector.

Action: Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation / Executive Director Evidence and Flooding

The Board noted the report, with the additional comments also made:

• Positive feedback on the Scottish Resources Conference, with thanks to the staff involved in the presentations, including on waste crime.
• Positive feedback on the new format of the report mapped to corporate objectives and that it was good to see reference to the development of a People Strategy which is supported by the People and Remuneration Committee.
• Following a query on the section on “Salmon recorded above Gateside Mills for first time in over 120 years”, clarification will be provided to the Board on who is responsible for country-wide assessments of wild salmon populations.

Action: Acting Chief Officer Compliance

The Board noted the report.

Quarter 2 Performance Report (SEPA 48/23)

Report: Quarter 2 Performance

The Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation introduced the report which covers SEPA’s performance from July to September 2023. It was noted that eight out of the nine measures were currently reporting Green and that performance measure 5 on Regenerative SEPA was the only measure currently at Amber. The Board is aware of the reasons for this (this is incorporated in the Board action note – Action 768). Further explanation was provided as follows: SEPA’s emissions inventory must include emissions associated with hybrid working meaning SEPA is now reporting two sources of emissions from its estate where previously it only had one. Travel requirements are on the increase; however, it remains below the levels recorded in pre-pandemic years. The current Regenerative route map sets out the actions that need to be taken by all to reduce emissions. It was noted that there has been a lot of work undertaken around the future of SEPA’s estates and the new Edinburgh Hub which brings some carbon savings. The current route map will come to an end in March 2024 and there will be a new route map in place from April 2024; discussions will be held with CLT on the development of this new route map.

In response to identifying the biggest wins going forward the Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation advised that work is ongoing in terms of the review and closing down of the first route map. This will continue into the New Year and will be brought back to the Board with more clarity on what needs to be done and what will have the biggest impact. The next stage of development will identify where sufficient changes need to be made to meet the 2025 targets. It was identified that a level of offsetting will be required and that proposals will be going to CLT on how this will work. It was suggested that going forward the language used could refer to Carbon Removals rather than Offsetting.

In response to a further question on influencing related policy decisions in Scottish Government, the Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation advised that SEPA is working closely with Scottish Government and that this will be pulled through in the Corporate Plan in relation to action around NetZero. In terms of SEPA’s footprint, this is something that she will take away and speak to the teams about, however action on direct emissions is within SEPA’s control and the team will continue to focus on driving down those emissions.

Action: Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation

In response to a question on measure 9, currently sitting at Green, and the level of confidence SEPA will meet the 82% target by March next year, the Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation advised that discussions have been had with CLT around this and that mitigations are in place. The team has managed to keep its performance at the same level despite an increase in the number of requests which keeps it at Green given the current definitions of Green and Amber. If mitigations do not deliver, then this measure may move to Amber.

Congratulations were noted to the team on getting the Customer Complaints measure 8 back to Green.

The Chair advised that as part of the Board recruitment process, candidates were asked to constructively feedback on the Quarter 1 performance report; this got positive reviews, however comments included the need to integrate Finance and People reporting into this report and address the nuances as to why measures are reported as Green or Amber with more information to balance the score card. The Chief Executive welcomed this feedback not only as part of SEPA’s reset as an organisation but also to ensure continuous improvement and agreed that the Performance and Innovation portfolio would incorporate this when redesigning next year’s performance reports.

Action: Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation

The Chair also asked that the terminology of the reports be considered in the future to reflect that the Board is asked to agree or endorse these reports rather than record them as noted. The Clerk to the Board advised that this will be considered as part of the ongoing work around the Scheme of Delegation.

The Board noted the report.

Quarter 2 Financial Monitoring Report (SEPA 49/23)

Report: Quarter 2 Financial Monitoring

The Chief Finance Officer introduced the report highlighting that this was an abridged version of the more detailed financial report discussed by the Audit and Risk Committee on 14 November 2023. She explained that the Resource budget is on track and that the Capital budget is fully committed. The Board noted that all is tracking to forecast, and no risks were raised.

The Board approved the report and noted that more detailed discussion on this took place at the Audit and Risk Committee.

International Services Strategy (SEPA 50/23)

Report: International Services Strategy

The Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation introduced Donna Brodie, International Services Manager, to the meeting and provided background detail on how SEPA’s International Services (formerly Commercial Services) was set up, also drawing attention to the highlights of its work presented in the paper.

The Board noted that the strategy was due to finish in 2022 and has been winding down with many of the projects coming to an end. It was considered a good opportunity to bring the strategy back to the Board to celebrate the success that has been achieved and to thank the staff who were involved for their hard work.

The Chair asked that additional information be provided on the financials and cost/benefit of this work (without taking away the success story), rerunning the costs against revenue.

Action: Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation

In response to a clarification on being more explicit on why SEPA is winding the strategy down at this time, the Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation advised that it was not a decision that CLT had taking lightly and that it was based on what was right for SEPA now as a lot of the work had come to a natural end and there would be less funding available and limited capacity for SEPA experts to work on international contracts. SEPA will however continue with its membership of IMPEL (the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law) and the Network of European EPAs, including co-leading the EPA Network’s Better Regulation Interest Group with the Irish EPA. SEPA is not moving away from its commitment to raising its profile in Europe and globally.

In response to a question on what the process would be for any future request for SEPA being asked to collaborate internationally, the Acting Chief Officer Performance and Innovation advised that requests would most likely be through known contacts in SEPA as those relationships will still exist, but that SEPA’s focus will be on delivering its next corporate plan for Scotland.

The Board noted the paper and thanked all the staff involved in this activity.

Sea Lice Framework Consultation response update (SEPA 51/23)

Report: Implementation of SEPA’s Sea Lice Framework

The Acting Chief Officer Compliance introduced the paper and asked the Board to note the process that was followed highlighting that it was also illustrated in the circulated annex showing the key steps in the development of the sea lice framework.

As highlighted in the paper, the Board noted that the regime would be introduced later in the Northern Isles as the hydrodynamic models still need to be developed for that area, however, those areas do not have significant salmon populations.

Regarding the phased implementation, it was confirmed that SEPA has been working closely with the Marine directorate at Scottish Government, NatureScot and local authorities, and that all are supportive of the approach that SEPA is taking, and that the best scientific information is drawn together.

The Acting Chief Officer Compliance asked that recognition is given to the process followed and that the Board approves the implementation timescale as set out in the paper. The Board noted that a letter of complaint in relation to the process had been received from Salmon Scotland and that SEPA will be responding to the concerns raised through its customer complaints process. The Board will be further informed on this through the annual report to the Board on customer complaints.

In response to a query on the sea-lice differences between trout and salmon, the Acting Chief Officer Compliance advised that it is to do with different migratory patterns due to them spending different timescales in different water bodies.

Following a request from the Board for assurance that SEPA has followed the correct process in terms of the consultation, the Acting Chief Officer Compliance confirmed that SEPA has followed and gone beyond the Scottish Government guidance and engagement with stakeholders, both formally and informally. She informed the Board that this was also confirmed with the Scottish Government Marine directorate.

The Board noted that SEPA followed due process and approved the implementation of the framework as per the recommendations in the report.

Board Governance

Revised Scheme of Delegation (SEPA 52/23)

Report: Revised Scheme of Delegation

The Clerk to the Board introduced the paper and reminded the Board of the wider context of the work on the Governance framework for SEPA. She explained that this is an interim review of the Scheme of Delegation that was required to be in place for the new Board membership in January 2024 for incorporation in the Board Induction Pack, alongside other governance documentation.

In response to questions around the key differences from the old scheme and responsibility for ensuring the Board is operating effectively, the Clerk to the Board advised that the main differences are around clarity of roles, bringing the document up to date, and setting it out in a more easy-to-understand format in a single document, rather than the previous two documents. Text has also been added to provide context to the scheme of delegation, to again make it easier to understand. In terms of responsibility, she confirmed that it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure the Board is operating effectively, also emphasising the importance of the board planning paper each year to ensure the Board is receiving the right information at the right time, mapping also to the corporate plan with input from the Corporate Leadership Team.

The Chief Finance Officer provided an example of this by advising how this scheme fits into SEPA Governance below the Board and gets tested by external auditors each year. Finance and Procurement feed into the next level down as they set up the approval systems in line with the Scheme of Delegation.

The Board noted that governance remains front and centre of all activities as an enabler for SEPA’s work, including supporting judgment around reputational or other risk to the organisation. The Board can decide at any time what needs to come to it, but it only knows what the Executive informs them on so the Executive needs to keep in mind and use correct judgment on what to bring to the Board’s attention and for decision-making.

The Board approved the paper.

Guidance on gifts and hospitality for Board Members (SEPA 53/23)

Report: Guidance on gifts and hospitality for Board members

The Clerk to the Board introduced the paper and advised that this replaces existing guidance to ensure it was brought up to date for the Board Induction pack. It mirrors the Standards Commission guidance on gifts and hospitality and should be read in the context of the Code of Conduct which was reviewed by the Board in 2022.

The Chair commented that he considered the guidance to be over restrictive and too cautious in allowing business to be carried out by taking part in conferences, dinners etc. The Board noted that inadvertently it was easy to fall foul of this guidance and that if members are in any doubt, they should contact SEPA’s Standards Officer for advice.

The CEO advised that if these guide rules are not in place, it makes business more difficult, and that the guidance is there to protect staff.

The Board approved the guidance.

Board Work Programme

Board engagement activity

The Board noted that Philip Matthews and the Executive Director for Evidence and Flooding attended a quarterly meeting with Scottish Environment Link, where the key items discussed included water policy, biodiversity strategy and monitoring.

Harpreet Kohli advised that in October 2013 he had attended the Scottish Resources Conference and the MacAulay Lecture “In conversation with Professor Johan Rockström”.

The Clerk to the Board advised that the Board support team is currently collating Board Members time recording information and will be in touch with members shortly to confirm that they are content to sign their “commitment of duties” letters to pass to Scottish Government.

Board buddy register

The Clerk to the Board gave an update on the board buddy register. The following points were noted:

• The Future of Work group is proposed closed as it has reached the end of its remit and is no longer required to meet.
• The Communications group was due to run to December 2023 and has reached the end of its remit. A decision is needed on whether it is to be closed.
• The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Water Scarcity group is being reviewed by the board buddy and will be shared once finalised.

The Board agreed to Future of Work and Communications groups being closed.

UK Boardroom Apprentice Programme 2024 update

The Clerk to the Board advised that she was due to meet with the Board Apprentice on 13 November 2023 but due to personal circumstances the apprentice was unable to attend. The apprentice is due to start on 1 January 2024 and the Clerk to the Board is rearranging the meeting.

It was noted that there is a Board shadowing element as part of the training which Nicola Gordon has volunteered previously to undertake; this will continue to be developed.

Board Committee Reports

Audit and Risk Committee draft minute of the meeting on 12 September 2023

Martin Hill advised that Nicola Gordon, as Audit and Risk Committee Chair, had given a verbal update at the last Board meeting and that he did not have anything else to add to this.

Audit and Risk Committee update from the finance meeting on 14 November 2023

In the absence of Nicola Gordon, Chair of Audit and Risk Committee, Martin Hill gave a verbal update advising that the focus of the meeting on 14 November 2023 was on the financial performance for the period up to 30 September 2023; the Chief Finance Officer had provided a detailed written report and slide presentation. There was useful discussion including scrutiny on staff costs and capital. The Committee was content to recommend the approval of the results which were presented today earlier on the agenda.

The Board noted that the Annual Report and Accounts was coming to the Strategy Board on 12 December 2023, and that the Audit and Risk Committee has put in an extra meeting on 11 December 2023 to consider the papers in detail ahead of this.

A further Audit and Risk Committee meeting is also due to be held on 12 December 2023.

People and Remuneration Committee update

Martin Hill as Chair of the People and Remuneration Committee (PRC) advised that the meeting scheduled for 14 November 2023 had been rescheduled to 5 December 2023 and that papers were available on Diligent Boards.

People and Remuneration Committee change of membership (SEPA 54/23)

Report: People and Remuneration Committee change of membership

The Clerk to the Board introduced the paper and advised that to provide continuation between the old and new Board, Harpreet Kohli will attend the PRC meeting on 5 December 2023 as an observer and take over as interim Chair from 1 January to 27 February 2024 when the membership will be reviewed with the new Board.

The Board approved the change in Membership.