Business Plan 2023/24 – 2024/25

Public bodies specific duties

2.1

As required by the Continuity Act, our proposed Strategic Plan for 2022-25 was submitted to the Scottish Parliament on 30 September 2022 for consideration. The proposed Plan was approved by the Parliament on 24 November 2022 and the final Plan published on our website on 1 December 2022.

2.2

Our Strategic Plan sets out how we will work as an organisation to deliver a series of strategic outcomes which, together, will help us progress towards achieving our Vision. The Plan details how we will approach each aspect of our role and how we will measure our performance and contribution to environmental protection and improvement.

2.3

We monitor progress against the Strategic Plan and report publicly through these Business Plans, and through our Annual Report and Accounts each year. We update Parliament directly on our progress with videos, Committee appearances and written correspondence, all of which we publish on the ESS website.

2.4

As set out in the ‘Our work’ section below, a review of the Strategic Plan will begin in 2024/25 with a view to publishing the next Plan in 2025/26.

3.1

Our Board meets regularly and the minutes of its meetings are available on our Publications page, as are the minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee.

3.2

ESS is accountable to the Scottish Parliament and has a legal duty to report on its activities each year. As a body corporate, ESS operates in line with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and has a duty to produce annual accounts in line with the Government Financial Reporting Manual. The first set of accounts was published in October 2023, for the 18-month period October 2021 to March 2023.

3.3

The ESS Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mark Roberts, is the Accountable Officer for ESS. The CEO is responsible to the Scottish Parliament for: the propriety and regularity of ESS’ finances; the economical, efficient and effective use of the resources placed at its disposal; and for signing ESS’ accounts.

3.4

Deloitte LLP provide the external audit function for ESS, on behalf of Audit Scotland. Scottish Government Internal Audit provides an audit advisory service to the Accountable Officer and the Audit and Risk Committee.

4.1

Following a period of set-up in 2021/22, ESS’ first Business Plan was published in January 2021 covering a period of 18 months. ESS’ second Business Plan was published in March 2023, containing planning for the financial year April 2023 to March 2024.

4.2

Set out below are the key pieces of work which were identified for the financial year 2023/24. A progress update is included alongside each item.

5.1

The sections below set out the key priorities and outputs that will be delivered from April 2024 to March 2025. These will be reviewed quarterly and updated as required.

5.2

During 2024/25 we will begin a review of our Strategic Plan. We will engage with stakeholders as part of this review. Consultation will then take place on a draft revised Strategic Plan during 2025. A revised Strategic Plan will then be presented to Scottish Parliament for approval by December 2025.

5.3

All related policies and procedures will be reviewed and revised alongside this programme of work. For example, this will include performance management indicators and the Communication and Engagement Strategy.

Ensuring compliance and effectiveness

5.4

In the ESS Strategic Plan, the strategic outcome set against ensuring compliance and effectiveness is: ‘we have taken effective action to ensure public authorities’ compliance with environmental law and to improve the effectiveness of the law’.

5.5

In the Plan we set out our intention to:

• seek to work constructively with public authorities where possible to reach informal resolution
• use our statutory powers to prevent further harm to, or reduce the risks to, the environment or public health
• issue a compliance notice where we consider that: there has been a failure by a public authority to comply with environmental law; harm to the environment has been caused, is continuing to be caused, or is at risk of being caused as a result
• prepare an improvement report where we consider that: there is a failure by one or more public authorities to comply with the law, or where a systemic change is required by the public authority(s) concerned to improve compliance with, and/or the effectiveness of, environmental law
• consider the use of our power to make an application for judicial review, or intervene in civil proceedings taken by another party

Key pieces of work 2024/25

5.6

We will:

• pursue identified failures to comply with environmental law with the relevant public authorities
• continue to resolve matters by agreement with the relevant public authorities where possible, within a reasonable timescale
• use ESS’ statutory powers to secure changes and remedial actions to address poor compliance and address environmental risks
• where our investigations identify systemic patterns of compliance failure, or areas where the law is ineffective in protecting the environment or public health, pursue this directly with the relevant parts of the Scottish Government
• seek to resolve matters and secure the necessary improvements by agreement with the Scottish Government, and where this is not possible within a reasonable timescale, use ESS’ statutory powers to prepare and issue improvement reports to the Scottish Parliament’

Investigate environmental concerns

5.7

The strategic outcome set against investigating environmental concerns in the ESS Strategic Plan is: ‘we have prioritised and investigated the most important matters of concern and identified the action needed to rectify problems and improve compliance and effectiveness’.

5.8

In the Plan we set out our intention to:

• assess whether representations made to us may trigger an immediate investigation due to importance, neglect or added value
• take into account importance, scope and nature, neglect and added value when prioritising our work
• notify the public authority(s) and relevant parties of our decision where we decide to investigate a matter of concern
• gather information from the public authority(s) concerned through the issuing of Information Notices
• work quickly and efficiently throughout our investigations, providing relevant parties with updates and an estimate of the completion date of each investigation in line with service standards

Key pieces of work 2024/25

5.9

We will:

• carefully review and assess all representations to identify candidates for investigation and advise on alternative routes for cases not suitable for investigation
• regularly review and publish our forward work programme so that we are investigating the most important environmental concerns
• regularly update our publicly available register of investigations and carry out these investigations
• continue to actively support parties submitting representations, particularly where they are unfamiliar with ESS processes, to ensure their concerns are accurately captured
• keep those who have made representations informed about our consideration and investigation of their matter of concern
• publish reports about the issues we have investigated and the actions that have been taken
• continue to assess our systems and processes to ensure the effectiveness of our investigations

Monitoring and analysis

5.10

The strategic outcome set against monitoring and analysis in the ESS Strategic Plan is: ‘we have built knowledge on environmental performance, are well informed about developments in EU and international standards and practice, and have formed effective partnerships with bodies collecting, collating and scrutinising environmental data’.

5.11

In the Plan we set out our intention to:

• collate, synthesise and assess the evidence about potential matters of concern (including matters of public concern) against a range of criteria, including: impact; nature and scope; neglect; and added value
• cast our net widely, identifying and interrogating data, reports, submissions and intelligence from partners and stakeholders that can help us identify instances of non-compliance or ineffective implementation of the law
• quality assure the evidence we use to ensure it is robust, reliable and objective
• progress our monitoring and analysis work through a series of stages, from horizon scanning to identify high-level areas of concern, through a deepening analysis and understanding of how things are changing in that area, the causes of this, and how policy and regulatory decisions affect this
• continue to monitor environmental performance more widely to assess whether any other matters of concern should be prioritised. We will also undertake horizon scanning to identify emerging matters of concern and relevant improvements in environmental law elsewhere

Key pieces of work 2024/25

5.12

We will:

• deliver a programme of analytical work on priority issues identified in ESS’ approved Strategic Plan, including:
  • sewage discharge into the aquatic environment
  • soil health
  • threats to the marine environment
  • Invasive Non-native Species (INNS)
  • water quality and progress against river basin management plan objectives
• respond to relevant consultations and will contribute to parliamentary scrutiny of proposed changes to environmental law, including:
  • the Scottish Government’s response to the consultation on their review of the effectiveness of environmental governance arrangements following EU withdrawal
  • the Circular Economy Bill
  • the Human Rights Bill
  • the Natural Environment Bill
• monitor relevant developments in European and international law and regulation to support our assessment of whether Scotland is maintaining alignment with the European Union on environmental law
• further develop and maintain effective systems for monitoring data and evidence on environmental performance, including Scotland’s comparative performance, and will undertake a regular review of ESS’ analytical priorities to identify emerging issues of concern
• develop and maintain effective working relationships with a range of organisations involved in collating, analysing and publishing data and evidence on environmental performance in Scotland

Engaging and communicating effectively

5.13

The strategic outcome set against engaging and communicating effectively in the ESS Strategic Plan is ‘our role is widely understood and individuals, groups and organisations are confident raising concerns with us. We are regularly engaged in work to improve compliance, the effectiveness of environmental law and how it is applied’.

5.14

In the Plan we set out our intention to:

• be accountable through reporting annually to Scottish Parliament on our activities and liaise with relevant committees to provide updates on our work and avoid unintentional overlap in work programmes
• liaise with other oversight and scrutiny bodies to ensure that we add value and avoid unnecessary overlap in our functions
• be open to anyone raising a concern with us about compliance with, or the effectiveness of, environmental law in Scotland
• regularly publish information on our website of our live investigations, pre-investigation casework and frequently asked questions
• continue to develop our communication with stakeholders in the public, private and voluntary sectors, and develop our Communications Strategy to broaden our reach, in particular to marginalised or disadvantaged communities and groups to increase awareness of our role and how to raise concerns

Key pieces of work 2024/25

5.15

We will:

• continue to proactively promote an understanding of our role and how people can raise matters of environmental concern with us
• continue to develop and deliver the ESS community and stakeholder engagement programme
• consult externally on our communication systems and processes to ensure the effectiveness and accessibility of our approach
• utilise the convening power of ESS to bring together stakeholders to raise the profile of the organisation within the environmental governance sector
• proactively engage with the Scottish Parliament Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, including six-monthly updates on our work in February and August each year
• build on our programme of digital communication work identified in the Communication and Engagement Strategy and continue to improve our approach through commissioning new videos, graphics and animations
• act on a programme of external and internal consultation to continue improving access to information on the ESS website and ensuring full compliance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018
• continue our programme of organisation-wide accessibility and engagement training, following the latest accessibility guidelines and standards
• continue to develop and improve our internal communications approach through delivery of the People Strategy Action Plan

Developing a high-performing organisation

5.16

The strategic outcome set against developing a high performing organisation in the ESS Strategic Plan is: ‘we are an effective and efficient organisation’.

5.17

In the Plan we set out our intention to:

• ensure our plans and operational activity are regularly reviewed and accountable
• continue to maintain a clear approach to how we allocate and prioritise our spending to ensure best value
• regularly assess ESS’ necessary staffing complement to ensure we can perform our functions effectively
• prioritise the development of our team by implementing our learning and development programme, pulse surveys and events to build our organisational culture, with a particular focus on equalities and wellbeing
• establish our core internal communications policy and continue to create an inclusive culture where team members are consulted and involved in the development of key policy areas

Key pieces of work 2024/25

5.18

We will:

• support the Minister and Parliamentary process to appoint a new ESS Chair to lead the organisation through the next stage of its strategic development
• build on the experience of ESS’ 2023/24 internal and external audit reviews and deliver resulting recommendations to provide independent assurance that public funding is spent properly, efficiently and effectively
• complete a programme of: internal audit reviews on performance management indicators and risks; ESS’ external audit; and publishing ESS’ second Annual Report and Accounts
• complete the ESS office’s retrofit in Thistle House, Edinburgh, co-locate with Consumer Scotland, and further assess opportunities for Public Services Reform efficiencies and collaborations
• on-board the new Oracle Cloud finance system
• complete a deep dive into our third-party service support and assess opportunities for Public Services Reform efficiencies and collaborations
• finalise the People Strategy action plan and deliver the Equalities Policy action plan recommendations set against 2024/25
• develop an enhanced mandatory equalities training programme for both staff and Board members as part of our Equalities Policy Action Plan
• implement the processes and policies for monitoring and minimising ESS’ impact on the environment as set out in our Sustainability Plan
• build on our data management, governance and legal processes across the organisation. This will include fulfilling our first archiving requirements and reviewing our Scottish Government framework agreement
• build on our current governance arrangements by consolidating all our delegations of authority into one document and reviewing any gaps
• strive to ensure decision-making is delegated to the point they are made most efficiently and effectively, with staff feeling empowered to make them at an appropriate level
• develop a central database of the principal pieces of primary, secondary and EU legislation that fall within our remit, together with: the corresponding obligations; the responsible public body; and anything that might have a bearing on their interpretation, scope or other implications

6.1

Our general performance and progress towards our strategic outcomes are monitored through a suite of performance and management indicators as set out below. These have been developed and agreed as part of the consultation on our 2022-25 Strategic Plan. They will be reported against in the ESS Annual Report to Scottish Parliament each year.

6.2

Performance indicators:

6.3

Management indicators: