Quarter 1 2026/27 Corporate Performance Report
Purpose and recommendations
This paper presents the first quarterly corporate performance report of the 2026/27 financial year, covering the period April 2026 to June 2026. This is the final year of our Corporate Plan.
In our Annual Operating Plan 2026-2027, we outlined a suite of performance measures aligned to our corporate plan priorities. We will use these performance measures to assess our progress in delivering this plan throughout the year.
The Agency Board is asked to:
discuss the Agency’s corporate performance report for Quarter one and agree it provides assurance on SEPA’s performance against the measures set out in the Annual Operating Plan 2026/27; and
approve the proposed changes to the two key results noted in the report.
Authors: Helen Hine, Senior Business Consultant - Performance Reporting and Planning; Susan Deakin, Senior Business Consultant - Performance Reporting and Planning; Darren McKay, Performance Manager
Corporate Leadership Team Sponsor: Kirsty-Louise Campbell, Deputy Chief Executive
Date: 16 September 2026
1.1. At the end of each quarter, we provide a corporate performance report to describe our progress towards achieving the performance measures set out in the Annual Operating Plan 2026/27. This includes annual objectives and key results (OKRs), strategic and operational key performance indicators (KPIs), and key milestones. The attached report summarises our performance for Quarter 1.
1.2. We worked with teams to ensure all reportable measures have agreed performance record tables confirmed and approved by CLT. These form the basis of our ‘Corporate Performance Measures Explained 2026/27’ document which will be published on our website alongside the Quarter 1 report. This document provides context for each of the performance measures. It aims to help people who are unfamiliar with our work to understand the performance measures. A copy is provided in the Board’s resource library for reference.
2.1. The corporate performance report quantifies and describes progress against agreed OKRs and KPIs, aligned to each Corporate Plan priority theme, alongside key milestones where relevant.
2.2. The report reflects good practice in OKR reporting and aligns with the principles for performance reporting set out in the Scottish Government Framework Agreement for SEPA and the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM). We have kept the corporate performance report concise and factual while detailing progress over the quarter.
2.3. We have responded to Board feedback by simplifying the OKR graphs, restructuring the highlights, exceptions and recovery sections around the Corporate Plan priorities, and removing duplicated content that was previously repeated under individual key results later in the report.
2.4. Members are invited to note the progress below:
2.4.1. One out of two key results due in Quarter 1 have been fully delivered. The outstanding key result is expected to be fully delivered in Quarter 2.
2.4.2. A further two key results have been delivered earlier than planned.
2.4.3. We are forecasting partial delivery against five OKRs by the end of this year with reasons noted.
2.4.4. We are proposing changes to the two key results below
2.4.4.1. Key Result 2.4: Draft Water Resilience Strategy scoped to define our ambition to drive a step change in water resilience.
2.4.4.2. Key Result 12.3: 95% of leaders and managers completed full planned Health and Safety training.
2.5. We will ensure that all text, graphs, colours, images, and tables used in the report are as accessible as possible for publication.
3.1. Financial / Resource impact: No impact.
3.2. Equalities impact: No impact.
3.3. Risk impact: No impact.
3.4. Environmental impact: No impact.
3.5. Data Impact: No impact.
3.6. Colleague consultation and engagement: The Head of Environmental & Regulatory Legal and the Head of Strategy and Communications reviewed the paper. Comments provided by CLT have also been addressed.
4.1. The Agency Board is asked to:
4.1.1. Discuss Agency’s corporate performance report for Quarter one and agree it provides assurance on SEPA’s performance against the measures set out in the Annual Operating Plan 2026/27.
4.1.2. Approve the proposed changes to the two key results noted in the report.