Corporate Plan 2017-2022
Chair and Chief Executive’s Foreword
Welcome to SEPA’s Corporate Plan for 2017-2022. It sets out our ambitions and objectives for the next five years, how we will go about achieving them, and the measures we will use to report on our performance.
SEPA has been going through profound changes in recent years, and continues to do so. We have been given a unique and visionary Statutory Purpose: to protect and improve the environment in ways that, as far as possible, also create health and well-being benefits and sustainable economic growth. It's a very powerful purpose for an environment protection agency. Delivering on it successfully requires new ways of thinking and new ways of acting, and this Corporate Plan will help us do that.
We recognise that we are over-using our planet’s resources. If everyone lived as we do in Scotland, we would need nearly three planets to sustain ourselves. Businesses, societies and nations which will thrive in the 21st century are those which have developed ways to prosper within our environment’s capacity to support us. Achieving this is highly ambitious, and requires a new sort of environment protection agency. This is the opportunity we are pursuing, and the challenge we have set ourselves over the coming years.
SEPA is responsible for delivering two core services - regulation and flood risk management. One Planet Prosperity - Our Regulatory Strategy, sets out how we will tackle environmental crime; support operators in driving up compliance, and help those who want to go beyond compliance to reap the benefits of environmental excellence. As Scotland’s authority for strategic flood risk management, we will implement Scotland’s Flood Risk Management Strategies with our partners, develop new flood warning schemes, and further improve our flood forecasting to help people and businesses protect themselves and their property from the impacts of flooding.
To achieve our ambitious objectives we are making fundamental changes to the way SEPA is structured and operates. We will streamline our essential services, and drive the innovation we need drawing on our global networks. We have established a new commercial service to generate income and share our expertise and knowledge internationally. We have a set of Organisational Characteristics which will guide our approach, and we have a strategy to attract, retain and develop the very best people to help us succeed.
This Corporate Plan sets out SEPA’s ambition and commitment for the coming years. It is a far reaching approach for an environment protection agency fit for the demands and opportunities of the 21st century. We believe it will help establish Scotland as a global leader in successfully delivering environmental success in ways that also facilitate sustainable success.
Our Strategy
Purpose: to protect and improve the environment in ways that, as far as possible, also help create health and well-being benefits and sustainable economic growth.
Strategic outcomes
The Scottish economy is becoming increasingly resource efficient and there is a general acceptance of the need to live within the planet's regenerative capacity. The economy is becoming increasingly resilient to the threat of scarce raw materials.
Scotland is developing innovative approaches to carbon and resource efficiency and is sharing and exporting its technologies and expertise.
Scottish businesses recognise the benefits to them of good environmental performance and take full advantage of them.
SEPA regulated businesses secure and maintain full compliance with environmental rules and regulations. Non-compliance is not tolerated.
The likelihood and potential impact of flooding across Scotland is understood and strategies are developed to tackle greatest risks.
Flood warnings are provided and businesses, communities and individuals understand the steps they can take to protect themselves from the impact of flooding.
Robust advice is given to ensure planning decisions are well informed and new developments are not located in high risk areas.
The quality of the air, water, and land in Scotland is improving, providing benefits to health and local amenities and better resources for local businesses.
The impact of pollution and environmental crime is reducing.
People understand the benefits a healthy environment provides for their quality of life and take full advantage of them.
People have the information they need, when they need it, to help them make good decisions that improve the environment, society and the economy.
Our core services
- Regulation
- Flood risk management
Actions
We will develop Sector Plans, engaging across sectors to identify shared objectives which will help businesses benefit environmentally, socially, and economically.
We will develop Sustainable Growth Agreements with those companies that want to prosper from better environmental performance and lead the way showing how businesses can thrive in a low carbon world.
We will transform the way we issue permits to improve customer service.
We will simplify permits for a range of activities to be issued under the new Integrated Authorisations Framework.
We will use all tools at our disposal to ensure that regulated sectors meet compliance requirements.
We will not tolerate irresponsible behaviour.
We will focus on waste crime, working with partners to disrupt serious organised crime.
We will continue to take robust enforcement action to protect the environment and human health when we need to.
We will phases in our new approaches to enforcement in order to tackle non-compliance at an earlier stage.
We will continue to work with partners to improve Scotland's flood risk management strategies and plans.
We will work with the sectors we regulate, planning authorities and other sectors, to minimise future disruption to people and businesses caused by flooding.
We will continue to deliver the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service to our flooding partners.
We will increase flood warning schemes to provide more communities with advance notice of flooding.
We will embed our six organisational characteristics into how we work.
We will adopt new and simpler ways of working to deliver our ambitions.
We will attract, retain and develop the very best people to help us succeed.
Supporting strategies
- One Planet Prosperity - Our Regulatory Strategy.
- Our People Strategy.
- Our Information and Evidence Strategy.
- Our Commercial Services Strategy.
- Our Finance Strategy.
Our Contribution
The purpose of the Scottish Government is to focus government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth. SEPA is responsible for ensuring the high quality environment which is vital for the health and well-being of our communities as well as for sustainable economic growth. Much of Scotland’s economy, such as the established industries of tourism, agriculture, and the food and drinks sector, depends on Scotland’s high quality air, land and water. We also work in partnership with the public and private sector providing advice and support to facilitate sustainable development.
To support its purpose, the Scottish Government has identified seven purpose targets and 16 national outcomes. We make a contribution to the nine national outcomes shown below:
- We live in a Scotland that is the most attractive place for doing business in Europe.
- We live longer, healthier lives.
- We live our lives safe from crime, disorder and danger.
- We live in well-designed, sustainable places where we are able to access the amenities and services we need.
- We have strong, resilient and supportive communities where people take responsibility for their own actions and how they affect others.
- We value and enjoy our built and natural environment and protect it and enhance it for future generations.
- We take pride in a strong, fair, and inclusive national identity.
- We reduce the local and global environmental impact of our consumption and production.
- Our public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people's need.
Our Services
Regulation
What we plan to do
Over recent years, we started to do more to recognise and support progressive businesses which wanted to become environmental champions. We will develop the range of regulatory powers granted to us under the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act combined with new approaches such as Sector Plans and Sustainable Growth Agreements to build on this experience.
Strongly tackling environmental criminals and serial non-compliance will continue to be a focus for our work. We will also continue to support businesses to help them to meet their legal obligations quickly, easily and cost effectively.
We also want to focus on helping as many of those we regulate as possible move “beyond compliance”. The most successful businesses in the 21st century will be those that are low carbon, low materials use, low water use and low waste. These businesses will see improving their environmental performance as an opportunity, not a problem. We will help businesses and local communities to deliver environmental initiatives that will bring them social and economic success.
How we will do it
One Planet Prosperity - Our Regulatory Strategy describes how, in our role as Scotland’s environmental regulator, we will work collaboratively with businesses to help them achieve their commercial goals in ways that also deliver environmental success. We need to find innovative and powerful ways of regulating so that those businesses that want to take advantage of the opportunities for profitability presented by moving “beyond compliance” are given strong support to do so.
We will achieve this by combining the things that we do to influence the behaviour of a business with all the other influences on the behaviour of that business – such as supply chain requirements and industry standards. Our interactions will also move to the most senior parts of businesses, helping them to find ways to turn environmental and social issues into market drivers of business success. Further, our regulation will be grounded in working across whole sectors, engaging with them to identify how we can help them to achieve compliance and, for as many as possible, go further than mere compliance.
The benefits it will bring
This is a radically different approach that uses our new regulatory powers to deliver a clear, practical focus on delivering economic, social and environmental success for the people of Scotland. Moving beyond simple compliance and managing “standard outcomes” will deliver only marginal improvements on the “three planet” living challenge. We aim to help businesses, sectors and communities to innovate and grow in ways that create prosperity but within planetary limits, helping to move Scotland from three planet living to one. This will give Scottish businesses a strong competitive edge in global markets.
Flood Risk Management
What we plan to do
In 2016 SEPA launched Scotland’s Flood Risk Management Strategies. For the first time these introduced a sustainable and modern approach to flood risk management, suited to the needs of the 21st century and preparing the nation for a changing climate. We will use our position as Scotland’s authority for strategic flood risk management, and our role in flood forecasting and flood warning, to reduce the devastating and costly impact of flooding.
The emphasis of our work will continue to be on managing flooding sustainably, taking proactive action where it is needed most to protect people, communities and businesses. With climate change, our exposure to floods is set to increase so a key challenge for us in the next five years will be considering what other innovative approaches we can take in the future to significantly reduce the impact of flooding.
How we will do it
Central to our role is the delivery of information and co-ordination of flood risk management across Scotland. Key to the success of this work is our close and productive working relationship with local authorities, Scottish Water, other public bodies and third sector organisations, alongside stakeholders and the public. We will continue to develop our knowledge and share our expertise with those delivering flood risk management projects. Over the next five years we will work together to improve the picture we have of flooding issues in Scotland, review where flood waters could go and the damage they could cause and update flood risk management strategies and plans.
Flood forecasting and warning saves lives and reduces disruption and damage from floods. Working with the Met Office, we will continue the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service providing daily advice on the risk of flooding to all responders in Scotland including the emergency services and local authorities. Investment will be targeted at developing and improving our warning services. There are already over 250 Flood Warning Areas in Scotland providing thousands of people with advance notice of where and when flooding is anticipated. We will add 14 new flood warning schemes providing many more communities with advance notice of flooding in their area.
We will work collaboratively with the businesses we regulate and other sectors, such as insurance, construction and utilities, to create innovative and powerful ways to minimise future disruption to people and businesses caused by flooding. The use of land plays an important role in reducing flooding and susceptibility to damages. Through our interactions with land owners and planning authorities, we will continue to influence land management and development decisions. We will work with them to help reduce the flow of flood waters to populated areas and find resilient solutions for communities in high flood risk areas.
The benefits it will bring
Across Scotland, flooding will be managed in ways that protect communities, improve the environment, provide opportunities to restore rivers and coastlines, and create green spaces for everyone to enjoy. Communities in vulnerable areas will know when a flood is coming and will have more time to protect themselves, their properties and their businesses. Investment will be targeted at communities in high risk areas to help them achieve social, economic and environmental benefits. Resilience to flooding will be built into Scotland’s future economy and infrastructure while protecting its cultural heritage too.
Our Organisational Characteristics
These characteristics describe how we will be operating by 2020.
As environmental issues become more central to health, well-being and sustainable economic growth, environmental information should be more needed to make decisions that achieve all three objectives. If our information and evidence is top quality, people will use it in their decision-making: it will not just "raise awareness".
In a world of growing population, urbanisation, inequality, climate change and other systemic challenges, small incremental change is important, but not sufficient to generate improvements in environment, health and well-being and sustainable economic growth. Societies constantly innovating will best rise to these challenges. We will help people to innovate in ways that create success in all three objectives.
For too long, too many people have viewed environmental, social and economic success as being in conflict. We will help change this "mindset". We will constantly seek to understand the health and well-being and sustainable economic growth outcomes that communities are trying to create. We will find new ways to support communities to participate in decisions and help them pursue their shared purpose.
The major decisions in a business get made at Board, Executive and Owner level. Compliance is non-negotiable and the minimum expected of everyone. If we are to ensure businesses achieve compliance quickly and at low cost and help businesses create sustainable economic growth, we need to understand their commercial context to create as much alignment as possible between environmental and economic goals. We need to help businesses turn environmental management from a cost centre into a profit driver. This means interacting more at senior levels.
Talented people want to work for organisations that achieve great outcomes and deliver powerful results to their customers. Our existing staff will want to stay with SEPA and new people will want to join SEPA because we give them the clarity and confidence to use their skills to deliver great outcomes for the people of Scotland.
The challenges of achieving progress across the three objectives are so large and so inter-connected that most solutions in the 21st century will come through partnership working. We will strive to do as much of our work as possible through partnerships. In many cases, we will not be the "lead partner". We will be an organisation known for contributing to the co-production of outcomes.
Our Organisation
What we plan to do
To achieve our ambitious objectives we are making fundamental changes to the way we operate. We will drive the innovation we need to deliver our ambitions and continue to reduce our environmental footprint, supported by expertise and experience sourced from around the globe. Our People Strategy will help us to retain, recruit, and develop the most talented people who have the skills and approach to create one of the first environment protection agencies that’s suited to the challenges of today.
New ways of working will help us to generate income while sharing our expertise and achieving our wider objectives internationally. We will use the best data to produce persuasive information that puts the environment at the core of peoples’ decision making.
How we will do it
This change will be driven primarily through providing greater clarity, simplifying our processes and strengthening our corporate governance. We will improve our approach to recruitment and selection so we make the best appointment decisions. We will develop managers who act as role models, provide clarity about what is expected and give meaningful feedback to support our staff.
We will provide consultancy services to international markets, applying for grant funding to deliver environmental improvements and the provision of bespoke evidence and data. We will work with partners to provide a joint approach to delivering our commercial services and bring together different skills, to ensure that we fully meet our clients’ demands.
We will move from traditional methods of collecting data to new technologies that gather information more quickly, accurately and safely. We will stop gathering the information we don’t need and adapt the information we do need to support our sectoral approach. We support the release of public sector information to facilitate economic growth and provide transparency. We will provide the majority of our data free of charge to the end user under an Open Government Licence.
The benefits it will bring
Our customers will find it easy to work with us, and our people will focus on the things that really make a difference. Each of us will be clear about what is expected and have the confidence to make the best decisions for Scotland’s environment and its people. We will be an organisation people are clamouring to work for, with a reputation for delivering excellent results for Scotland. Our commercial services will establish lasting relationships and partnerships through sharing best practice in Scotland and with other nations. Our unique approach will help establish Scotland as a global leader in successfully delivering environmental success in ways that also create economic and social success.
Our Progress
These are the outcomes we want to achieve:
- Scotland is thriving in a low carbon world.
- Scottish businesses are prospering from better environmental performance.
- The impact of flooding is reducing.
- People benefit from Scotland's improving environment.
These are the measures that we will use to report our progress. Every year in our Annual Operating Plan we will include specific targets which support these measures.
Scotland's Environment:
- Improvement in the quality of Scotland's environment.
- Reporting of the quality of Scotland's environment.
Our Services - Regulation:
- Increase in the number of sector plans.
- Increase in the number of sustainable growth agreements.
- All permits have obligations which are clearer.
- Fewer instances of poor environmental performance.
- Eradication of waste crime.
Our Services - Flood Risk Management:
- Achievement of milestones to deliver the next flood risk management strategies.
- Increase in the number of properties covered by flood warning schemes.
Our Organisation:
- Improvement to our services bases on customer feedback.
- Reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions.
- Achievement of annual efficiency savings.
- Improvement in staff engagement.
Our Funding
We receive funding, known as grant-in-aid, from the Scottish Government each year for our work to protect Scotland’s environment. We also receive funding from the Scottish Government to provide a flood risk management service for Scotland and to fund projects for improving Scotland’s rivers and lochs. A significant proportion of our income is generated by charges to businesses to cover the costs of the regulatory services we provide to them. In addition, we receive income for services we provide to other public bodies in Scotland and the United Kingdom.
We recently marked the beginning of an ambitious new direction for us. We will provide a variety of products and services which will generate new income while sharing our expertise internationally.
There are a number of variables that will determine the extent to which we deliver our Statutory Purpose over the next five years. The amount of funding made available by the Scottish Government, as well as the level of charging and commercial income that we receive will impact on our ability to achieve the level of ambition set out in this plan. Our priorities will partly depend on external funding opportunities, and on our ability to realise these opportunities.
Each year we will publish our expected income and planned expenditure in our Annual Operating Plan, along with our priorities for the year, as public budget decisions which set our grant-in-aid allocation are currently made on an annual basis.