board meeting - gov.uk · 2019-10-21 · board meeting wednesday 9 october 2019 1. apologies emma...

Board Meeting

Wednesday 9 October 2019

1.

Apologies

Emma Howard Boyd

09:45 10 mins

2. Declarations of Interest

Emma Howard Boyd

3. Minutes of the Board meeting held on 16 May 2019 and matters arising (for approval)

Emma Howard Boyd

4. Board Updates 4.1 Chair’s update (for information) 4.2 Chief Executive’s update (for information)

Emma Howard Boyd James Bevan

09:55 35 mins

5. EU Exit (for information)

Harvey Bradshaw / Toby Willison

10:30 20 mins

6. Sustainability Strategy – eMission 2030 6.1 Net Zero Carbon (for approval) 6.2 eMission 2030 ambitions and targets (for discussion)

Toby Willison 10:50 60 mins

7. 5 Year Action Plan (for discussion)

John Leyland 11:50 45 mins

Lunch 12:35 45 mins

8. FCRM Strategy, post-consultation update (for discussion)

John Curtin

13:20 30 mins

Venue: Royal Academy of Engineering, London Board Breakfast: 08:30 – 09:30 Board meeting: 09:45 – 15:20 Quorum: 7 non-executive Board members

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9. Annual items 9.1 Equality, Diversity & Inclusion annual report 9.2 Health, Safety & Wellbeing annual report

John Leyland Toby Willison

13:50 30 mins

10. Review of Board Planning & next steps Emma Howard Boyd

14:20 15 mins

11. Schemes of Delegation & Finance update 11.1 Finance update 11.2 Financial Scheme of Delegation (for approval) 11.3 Non-financial Scheme of Delegation (for approval)

Pat Bolster Peter Kellett

14:35 15 mins

12. Recent committee meeting updates 12.1 Updates from Committee chairs 12.2 EAPF Discretionary Policy Statements

Emma Howard Boyd John Leyland

14:50 20 mins

13. AOB and date of next meeting Emma Howard Boyd

15:10 5 mins

14. Review of meeting

Emma Howard Boyd

15:15 5 mins

Information papers -

1. Q1 Corporate Scorecard

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Board Meeting

Wednesday 9 October 2019 Item: 4.1 Appendix 1: London Climate Action Week itinerary

Appendix 2: UN General Assembly Summit Week itinerary

Sponsor: Emma Howard Boyd, Chair

Title: Chair’s Update

Please clearly state what decision you are seeking from the meeting The Board is asked to:

1. Note recent Chair engagements Key points for discussion This paper is intended to update the Board on the Chair’s key engagements since the last Board meeting on 16 May. Governance What meetings/groups have already reviewed this item? N/A N/A

What meetings/groups need to review this item next? N/A N/A

Are there any risks associated with the evidence and analysis in the paper? N/A How will the key messages/decisions be communicated? N/A No legal annex is required This is an information paper and therefore no legal annex is required.

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1.0 Emma Howard Boyd engagements 16 May to 23 September 2019

1.1 Please note this paper highlights Emma’s key engagement events since the last formal Board meeting. A detailed itinerary of Emma’s engagements is also sent out each week via the weekly update to Board members.

Key Speaking and panel events 16 May- Speaking at the CIWEM Annual Dinner 20 May- Speaking at the Plumbers Livery Company Annual Lecture 23 May- Speaking at the Net impact approaches conference 23 May- Speaking at the EY Asset Management CEO Forum 3 June- Keynote speaker at the Soils Report Launch 11 June- Panellist at the Responsible Investment Europe 2019- The EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance: the big picture on the EU’s 2019/2020 regulatory push and what it will mean for investors and companies 18-20 June- Panellist at the EA Flood and Coast Conference 24 June- Speaking at the National Angling Strategy Launch event 27 June- Speaking at the Major Projects Association Prestige 2019 Lecture 12 July- Chair and Panellist at the Transition Pathway Initiative Steering Summit 16 July- Keynote address at the Coastal Conference- Restoring Estuarine and Coastal Habitats in the North East Atlantic. 16 July- Closing remarks at the Yorkshire Sustainability Conference 18 July- Speech at the Business in the Community Bristol Waste to Wealth Summit 29 July- In conversation session with Gulf International Bank on climate emergency 10 September- Speaking at the Senior Women in Fund Management Dinner 10 September- Keynote address at the Westminster Business Forum 12 September- Panellist at the London Infrastructure Summit

E&B focused activity 13 June- Attendance at the 30th Anniversary of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. 14 June- Attendance at ‘Against the plastic tide: Lessons from inspiring community leaders tackling marine plastic pollution roundtable’. Archbishop Justin Initiative event hosted by The Revd Canon Dr Flora Winfield 23 July- Area Visit to Crewe, focused on a site visit to TATA Chemical. 30 July- Area visit to Hinkley Point C with Robert Gould hosted by EDF Energy 7 August- Area Incident Fish kill visit to Sheppey River 8 August- River Mimram visit with Harvey Bradshaw focusing on Chalk Streams 22 August- Visit to Penrith with Dieter Helm focusing on Catchment Pioneers 19 September- Devon, Cornwall & Isle of Scilly visit with Minister Rebecca Pow at the Sherford Stream discussions focused on land management, chemical use, the future of agriculture, fish migration, water quality and working with water companies.

FCRM focused activity 22 May- Institution of Civil Engineers and Department for Transport Breakfast event 26 & 27 June- RFCC Chairs meeting and visit to the North East focusing on Costal Erosion.

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7 August- Visit to Bristol with James Bevan focusing on the Avonmouth to Severnside Flood Scheme. 20 September- Bacton Scheme Launch ceremony

Key Green Finance/Resilience activity 30 May- Mainstreaming Climate Risks in investment decision making hosted by Willis Tower Watson. 30 May- Dinner event with the Esmee Fairbairn investment Committee 1-5 July- London Climate Week key events focussed on Green Finance, resilience, adaptation and Transition Pathway Initiative (see Appendix 1 for full programme) 18 July- All staff in conversation with session hosted by Liz Parkes. 04 April- Event attendance London Business School Climate related risk: Responsibility of the Board ……or not? 3 September- Meeting with Helen Clarkson, Chief Executive Climate Group 4 September- Meeting with Graham Wrigley, Chair CDC Group 21 September- 26 September- New York Climate Week key panel sessions focussed on Green Finance, resilience, adaptation and Transition Pathway Initiative (see Appendix 2 for full programme) Key Stakeholder Engagements

10 June- Meeting with Baroness Young (Chair), Beccy Speight (Chief Executive) and James Bevan focusing on Environment Agency support for the Woodland Trust. 8 July- NFU meeting discussing water companies, net zero, flood strategy and farming. 9 July- Meeting with Jonson Cox (Ofwat chair) to discuss Ofwat and Environment Agency engagement 11 July- Catch up meeting with Nick Molho (Aldersgate Group) 11 July- Defra Board Meeting 16 July- If not now, when? Defra SoS speech attendance 24 July - Meeting with Alison Baptiste- Director Operations Infrastructure and Projects Authority 24 July- Meeting with John Holland Kaye (Chief Executive Heathrow) discussing the Thames Scheme 29 July- Catch up meeting with Mark Zinkula (CEO Legal and General) 29 July- Meeting with Henry Dimbleby (Defra NED) 31 July- Catch up call with Julie Hirigoyen (Chief Exec UKGBC) 12 August- Catch up call with Lord Stern 12 August- Catch up call with Lord Deben 19 August- Catch up meeting with Bevis Watts (Triodos Bank) 21 August- Follow up meeting with John Holland Kaye (Chief Executive Heathrow) 5 September- Defra NED Lunch session hosted by Tamara Finkelstein 18 September- Meeting with Mark Cropper from James Cropper LTD focusing on carbon transition.

Other business: Recommendation for Approval at Board Meeting

Appendix 1 – London Climate Action Week itinerary

Date Event Details Mon 1 July 9.00-12.00

London Climate Action Week launch event

Attendee

Mon 1 July 10.00-14.00

Sustineri, Pensions for Purpose & A4S – “The role of UK pension funds in the low-carbon transition” roundtable discussion.

Attendee

Mon 1 July 13.00-16.00

International Institute for Environment and Development, Least Developed Countries group, Willis Tower Watson & Global Resilience Partnership – “Leading on the Front”

Panellist and Q&A session

Mon 1 July 14.00-16.00

HSBC “Banking on the SME Low Carbon Transition” event

Attendee

Mon 1 July 16.00-19.00

Climate Policy Initiative & Bank of America Merrill Lynch “driving private finance to achieve 2° objectives” event

Attendee

Mon 1 July 17.00-22.00

Attend Green Finance Summit Private Dinner with the Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor of London to provide a candid forum for dialogue on the evening ahead of the Summit.

Attendee

Tues 2 July 9.00-17.30

The Economist Event on Physical Risk Panellist

Tues 2 July 9.00-19.00

Green Finance Summit 2019 - 'Investing in sustainable and resilient cities’

Panellist

Tues 2 July 19.00-21.30

Dinner with Anthony Hobley and UNFCCC

Attendee

Weds 3 July 08.00-12.15

EA/Thames Barrier event – ‘Planning city riversides for the future: how is London adapting to rising sea levels?’

Keynote address

Weds 3 July 10.00-14.00

DfID’s Raising Global Ambition to Tackle the Climate Emergency event – ‘how we can use the UN Climate Action Summit to drive a step change in global ambition?’

Panellist

Weds 3 July 14.00-18.30

Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment’s event – ‘The case for climate-resilient city economies’.

Keynote address

Weds 3 July 18.00-22.00

Ashden Awards 2019 Attendee

Thurs 4 July 08.15-09.45

UK Green Building Council’s Chairman's Breakfast - sustainability in the built environment.

Attendee

Thurs 4 July EBRD Green Cities event ‘financing in the context of green cities’

Panellist

Thurs 4 July 11.45-13.00

FAST Event Informal Lunch Attendee

Thurs 4 July 12.30-18.30

FAST: Finance for Adaptation Solutions & Technology vs. GFAS: Global Finance Action Summit

Opening statements

Thurs 4 July Chatham House event - ‘Securing our Climate Future: Risk, Resilience and Diplomacy'

Panellist

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UN General Assembly Summit Week itinerary

Sunday 22 September

To note separate run of show for UNCAS Meetings1. Resilience

Coalition Sessions 10:00-14:00

Type: Speaker Invite from: The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Summit, Luis Alfonso de Alba Location: UN Building Reserved: Yes Click to watch Emma speak here

2. Securing our Future: People, Food and Nature solving the Planetary Emergency

18:00-21:00

Type: Attendee Invite from: Co-hosted by the Food and Land Use Coalition, the World Economic Forum, Conservation International, National Geographic, UNDP and Nature4Climate Location: Cipriani 42nd Street, 110 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 Reserved: Yes- extra ticket in pack

3. Climate Ambition reception

19.30-21:00

UK Delegation reception. Location: 1 Beekman Place, New York, NY 10022

4. Adaptation without Boarders initiative

Type: Dinner

Monday 23 SeptemberTo note separate run of show for UNCAS Meetings

Breakfast with Stephen Brenninkmeijer,

7:30

Location: The Marriott Westin Hotel at Times Square, 270 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036 USA

1. UNCAS Sequence one: commitments / national statements by leaders and presentation of initiatives

10.45-13.00

Type: Presentation Invite from: Secretary-General's Special Envoy Location: UN Building Reserved: Yes

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2. UNCAS Sequence two: commitments / national statements by leaders and presentation of initiatives

15.00- 17.30

Type: Presentation Invite from: Secretary-General's Special Envoy Location: UN Building Reserved: Yes

3. Invited: WWF flagship event - New Deal for Nature and People event for Leaders

18.30-20.00

Type: Event - attendee Invite from: WWF-UK Location: Qatar Lounge (East), UN HQ Registered: yes

Special Event Tickets pick up from the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations (885 2nd Ave, New York, first floor foyer) between 13:00-17:45 on Monday 23rd September. You will be escorted by a member of staff between 17:00- 18:00pm

4. High-level dinner 20.00-till late

Type: Attendee Invite from: The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen Location: Restaurant the Smith, 956 SECOND AVENUE (AT 51ST STREET) Reserved: Yes

Tuesday 24 September1. Shell CEO, Ben

van Beuden on Low Carbon Transition

07.45-09.00

Type: Invited to speak at Panel Discussion: Invite from: Shell Location: Midtown Hilton Reserved: Yes

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2. GCA event: Countdown to the Climate Adaptation Summit: the Launch of the Year of Action

11.30-13.00

Type: 1.5 minute speaking slot Invite from: The Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in support of the Global Commission on Adaptation. Location: Conference Room 7, UNHQ, 760 United Nations Plaza Reserved: Yes

3. Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2019

Type: Speaker Invited from: World Economics Forum Location: Murray Hill, New York Reserved: Yes

4. Macquarie's

'Financing a Resilient Future' GCA event

Type: Speaking Invite from: Macquarie Events/ CEO Shemara Wikramanayake Location: Rainbow Room, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 65th Floor, New York Registered: Yes Rainbow Room loading dock details Loading dock address: 41 West 50th Street, North side of street, between 5th and 6th Avenues Contact: Al Russomano, Macquarie Security – # 832.266.3062 Contact number of Cameron Partridge: T +1 212 231 1652 | M +1 (929)-284-5731

Wednesday 25 September1. Climate Week VIP

Breakfast "Climate change and financial markets: a new paradigm to manage risk"

08.00- 10.30

Type: Attendee Host: McKinsey & Company Location: The Library at Convene, 237 Park Avenue, between 45th & 46th Street Registered: Yes

2. MSCI & PRI Annual Climate Week Seminar:

Type: Closing Remarks Host: UNPRI

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Taking Action on Climate Risk

10:45 slot (starts 8:00)

Location: MSCI NY Office - 250 Greenwich Street, 48th Floor, New York NY 10007 Registered: Yes

3. Sustainable Investment Forum North America

15.10-16.00

Type: Moderating Panel Invite from: Climate Group Location: Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan 1605 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, USA Registered: yes

Panel Climate action- building Climate change adaptation and resilience

4. A decade of action for Sustainability goals

Type: Attendee Invite from: Systemiq Location: UN Rose Garden

5. Theatrical Premiere of ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch

Nick Bridge’s plus 1 Location: IFC Center

Thursday 26 SeptemberBreakfast with Patricia Fuller

Breakfast with Patricia Fuller Canada Climate Change Diplomat discussions focussed Nature base solutions action track

Meeting with Mark Fletcher and Fred Boltz

09:30- 10:15

Location: Cafe Grumpy's, 20 Stone Street, next to the DoubleTree Hotel

1. Meeting with Barbara Zvan

Type: Meeting Chief Risk and Strategy officer for Ontario teachers’ pension plan

2. A4S US Chapter launch

16:30-20:00

Type: Attendee Invite from: A4S Location: Salesforce Tower, 1095 Avenue of the Americas @ 6th Avenue, New York, NY Registered: Yes

Board meeting

Wednesday 9 October 2019 Item no. 4.2

Sponsor: James Bevan, Chief Executive

Title: Chief Executive’s Update

Please clearly state what decision you are seeking from the meeting The Board is asked to note the update on key topics since the last meeting. Governance What meetings/groups have already reviewed this item? NA

What meetings/groups need to review this item next? NA

Are there any risks associated with the evidence and analysis in the paper? None How will the key messages/decisions be communicated? This paper will be published on GOV.uk. Legal Services have been consulted and confirm no legal annex is required. Legal advice provided by: Peter Kellett

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1.0 River Basin Planning Consultation – Challenges and Choices 1.1 River basin management plans set legally binding objectives for water and

summarise the measures used to achieve the objectives. The Environment Agency is updating the current plans published in February 2016. Updated plans are due to be published in December 2021. In October this year, a formal public consultation will start on the main issues to be considered when updating the plans. These include the climate and biodiversity crisis, water abstraction, the main sources of pollution, invasive non-native species and the impacts of physical modifications in the water environment.

1.2 To make the consultation accessible and meaningful for a wide range of

stakeholders, information will be presented in a variety of ways and level of detail. This includes a series of 11 short films produced with some of our partners. The films introduce the challenges and identify a few simple things that we all can do to help reduce the problems at source.

1.3 Consultation responses will inform the update to the river basin management

plans. They will also be used by the Environment Agency and Defra to help shape a plan setting out the policy direction for water in England (a water strategy) and action plans of how each sector can play their part (sector plans).

2.0 Prolonged dry weather 2.1 Drought continues to affect East Anglia, Hertfordshire and North London

Areas. Environmental impacts (in chalk streams in the east and south east) and impacts on the agricultural sector in East Anglia, due to lack of groundwater recharge and continued low flows, remain the greatest concern.

2.2 August rainfall was 121% of long term average (LTA) across England, ranging

from 89% of monthly LTA in south-east England to 165% in north-west England. However, this masks sub-regional variation as some catchments in the east remained very dry. Some summer rain helped slow the recession of flows and levels in rivers and reservoirs; the latter below normal for time of year, but in healthy ranges.

2.3 Chalk groundwater levels in the south and east continue to decline causing

low baseflows. Groundwater levels in parts of the east and south east are tracking similar levels to 1991/92, 1996/97 and 2005/06 drought years. Some of these groundwater levels are close to historic minimum levels for the time of year. If dry weather continues they could fall to all-time historic levels with impacts on river flows and the environment. Groundwater recovery is not expected until autumn/winter rainfall arrives. The low levels of groundwater

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(some approaching historic low levels), particularly in chalk stream catchments, continue to attract local stakeholder concerns.

2.4 In East Anglia, the weekly abstraction licence limit of a number of irrigators

was reduced, in response to low river flows and associated environmental impacts. ‘Section 57 spray irrigation restrictions’ was used to do this from late July until 1st October. Under Section 57 of the Water Resources Act 1991, the taking of water for spray irrigation within a water catchment can be restricted from being taken at times of exceptional shortage of rain or other emergency to protect the environment. We have stopped a number of other licences from abstracting any water through licence conditions (rather than section 57 spray irrigation restrictions). We worked closely with the NFU and Water Abstractor Groups to implement these restrictions. As we go into the autumn, our flexible abstraction approach will help farmers refill reservoirs early and water fields to lift crops where necessary subject to adhering to the necessary environmental safeguards.

2.5 The Environment Agency continues to monitor water companies’ activity. The

focus is ensuring that companies are taking precautionary action to sustain supplies through the autumn/winter period whilst identifying options to support multi-sector access to water and environmental sustainability. The Environment Agency will Chair the next National Drought Group on 21 October. The focus will be winter preparedness in the context of the Groundwater recharge forecasts for 2020.

2.6 The Environment Agency will continue to work with our partners including

water companies, government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to coordinate the response to prolonged dry weather; and with farmers, businesses and others to manage water availability and to ensure that, as far as possible, they get the water they need whilst safeguarding the environment.

2.7 The Love Water campaign was launched on 31 July. This is a collaborative

initiative to promote the value of water and its stewardship. 3.0 Regulating for People the Environment and Growth Report 3.1 The Environment Agency plans to publish ‘Regulating for people the

environment and growth report 2018’, the annual report on the environmental performance of regulated business, in mid-October.

3.2 ‘Regulating for people, environment and growth’ helps to maintain the

Environment Agency’s reputation as a trusted and respected regulator. This year the report has been expanded to include more information on agriculture, water regulation and climate change, as well as case studies about regulatory work.

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3.3 The report describes the performance of the businesses the Environment

Agency regulates and our role as a regulator. The message is that good regulation works and the report stresses the role of regulation in meeting the challenges of the climate emergency and plastics in the environment.

3.4 The report shows that the Environment Agency has driven down emissions to

air, water and land in regulated sectors. Big challenges remain though: businesses are not doing enough to stop serious pollution incidents and the number of illegal activities involving waste is still too high.

3.5 The report has been to the Environment Agency’s Environment and Business

Committee, who have made comments and given their support. A final version will be circulated, in the meantime if any Board Member wishes to see a near final drafting prior to publication we can arrange this through the Board secretariat.

4.0 State of the Environment report for the energy supply industry 4.1 In June the UK became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to

end its contribution to global warming by 2050. The target will require the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, compared with the previous target of at least 80% reduction from 1990 levels.

4.2 Given this new net zero target, in the next series of State of the Environment

Reports, the Environment Agency plans to focus on the energy supply industry. The purpose of the short report is to set out the most significant environmental issues associated with energy supply transition on the journey to net zero.

4.3 The Environment Agency aims to inform future energy choices and help to

ensure that policy decisions are taken with knowledge of long term consequences for public health and the environment.

4.4 Key messages will include the need to fully integrate environmental protection

and clean growth, the need for a whole system and lifecycle view, and how the Environment Agency will play our part in a leadership role.

4.5 The report will link in with the BEIS Energy White Paper on Energy, and it is

hoped that together they will form the basis for a conversation that is needed if we are to see the radical changes in energy supply systems that are necessary. A publishing date in December is being worked towards.

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5.0 Climate Change 5.1 The Government have announced that their joint bid with Italy to host COP26

(Conference of the Parties) in December 2020 has been successful. The event will take place in Glasgow. Claire Perry MP is the President of the UK’s COP26 efforts and a team in the Cabinet Office will lead preparations. COP26 is a major milestone in the UNFCCC process, with countries expected to ramp-up their ambition on greenhouse gas emission reductions. The Government want the COP26 to become a ‘green festival’ for the UK, with events running up to it setting the tone - we are already discussing giving the Flood and Coasts conference in June 2020 a COP26 theme. The Environment Agency will continue to engage with both teams in the Cabinet Office and BEIS, as well as Defra.

5.2 The Environment Agency has used the Climate Strike on the 20th September,

and the UN General Assembly (23rd September), to further highlight the importance of climate change to staff. A new toolkit has been published, which is aimed at helping staff ‘find their voice’ on climate change, including their own personal narrative and how climate change will impact their work. This follows excellent feedback staff have provided about the external speeches delivered by James Bevan and Emma Howard Boyd over the last few months, and a desire from staff to feel more empowered to talk to customers and partners about climate change in their work. Communications work will be continually invested in over the coming months.

5.3 The Environment and Business (E&B) Business Board have agreed to

establish a new Climate Change Programme, working across the business of the Environment Agency (E&B, FCERM and Operations) to ensure greater join-up and co-ordination of work responding to the climate emergency. The E&B Business Board will however consider, within existing allocations, what additional resources can be made available, including a small team to manage the new climate change programme.

6.0 National Audit Office report on fracking 6.1 The National Audit Office (NAO) is producing a factual report on the onshore

oil and gas sector including hydraulic fracturing, outlining the roles of the regulators and the regulatory requirements. The report will explore roles and provisions for the regulation of decommissioned wells, understanding of liabilities arising and assessment of the potential costs to the public purse.

6.2 The Environment Agency has met with NAO to explain our regulatory role in

this sector, how we work with government and partners including the Shale Environmental Regulator Group, and the evidence base for our framework. In addition we have supplied information regarding our resources and costs,

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compliance data, research reports, technical guidance and monitoring requirements.

6.3 The report is due to be published in October, after which a Public Accounts

Committee hearing is expected to be held. 7.0 National Audit Office waste crime review 7.1 Earlier this year the National Audit Office (NAO) signalled their intention to

review the government’s approach to tackling crime in the waste sector. From July they have been undertaking a limited focussed review, looking at the extent of the large-scale illegal dumping of waste. This covers illegal waste sites and abandoned sites, as well as major fly-tipping incidents and leads into the full audit later in the year.

7.2 The NAO intend to publish their initial report in December. We provided the

NAO with information and data that we use to understand the nature and scale of major incidents of illegal dumping of waste, including:

• Working with Defra and the NAO team, we are actively supporting the

review and assisting the NAO team in understanding the complexity of crime in the waste sector. For example, in July, the NAO team visited the Environment Agency’s National Enforcement Service to hear first-hand how they tackle the highest risk, highest threat, criminals using well established law enforcement techniques through an intelligence led approach.

7.3 The NAO are involving other organisations in this review including HMRC,

MHCLG and stakeholders across the waste sector. 8.0 Summer flooding in Yorkshire 8.1 On 30 July 2019, a line of storms stretching from Malham to Ripon in

Yorkshire developed in the early afternoon and moved North Westerly as the afternoon progressed. Reeth and the Arkle Beck were located in the centre of this storm cell which persisted for a number of hours. In 3 hours there was 112 mm of rainfall leading to exceptional flooding. This is twice the average total rainfall for July and rainfall of this magnitude a 1 in 1000 years event. All local watercourses responded to the rainfall.

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8.2 The rainfall caused a number of landslips onto roads, seriously damaged a bridge and flooded farmland in North Yorkshire. Our best information at present is that 252 properties, 83 businesses and 35 farms in North Yorkshire were flooded by the rainfall on the 30 July. The Fire and Rescue Service effected 6 water rescues

9.0 Toddbrook Reservoir - Whaley Bridge 9.1 On 1 August, following periods of heavy rain, the spillway at Toddbrook

Reservoir, owned by the Canal and Rivers Trust (CRT), partially collapsed. Derbyshire Police declared a major incident and led the response, evacuating 1500 people from Whaley Bridge and surrounding areas at risk.

9.2 We were an integral part of the multi-agency response providing strategic and

tactical support to Derbyshire police and partners. This included: • Forecasting and warning expertise - issuing a severe flood warning to

171 properties and advising on the risk of flooding from further periods of heavy rain.

• Providing hydrological and modelling expertise to inform on-site safety management plans, including the safe release of water

• Providing detailed reservoir flood inundation maps • Sending community information officers to offer advice and guidance to

residents • Coordinating the deployment of staff, pumps, pipework and installing

additional monitoring

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• Providing advice to all reservoir owners, and seeking assurances that their reservoirs were safe.

9.3 Work coordinated through the local resilience forum saw the deployment of 20

pumps and kilometres of pipework to drawn down water levels, and the installation of over 500 one tonne bags of aggregate to shore up and stabilise the spillway. This work meant residents could return to their properties within a week. The decision followed a thorough assessment of the stability of the dam and was the collective judgement of the police, emergency services, CRT and the Environment Agency. It was made on the basis that water levels in the reservoir had been significantly lowered and that robust arrangements are now in place to ensure water levels are monitored and remain at safe levels in the event of further heavy rainfall.

RAF Chinook Helicopter dropping bags of aggregate to repair Toddbrook dam spillway

RAF Chinook Helicopter and pumps in action

Environment Agency colleagues from across the country working to protect the communities around Toddbrook.

The Environment Agency continues to assist the recovery operation, supporting Derbyshire Strategic Recovery Group and CRT. Our contribution to managing the incident was recognised in a letter from the Prime Minister. We are the primary regulator for the Reservoirs Act 1975 (the Act) in England and have a legal duty to ensure that reservoir owners observe and comply with the requirements of the Act. Toddbrook is classed as a large reservoir and subject to the Reservoirs Act. Work is needed to restore the reservoir to the very high safety standards required by law. This will be carried out by CRT under our supervision as the regulator.

9.4 Following the incident we contacted the owners of over 2000 large reservoirs

asking them to check that there are no safety concerns. No new safety concerns have been raised to date. We have also checked all 214 large reservoirs we own and operate and found no serious safety concerns.

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9.5 On the 08 August, James Bevan wrote a ‘Creating a better place’ blog on “Managing reservoir safety in England”.

9.6 On 3 September, Theresa Villiers the Secretary of State for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs, announced an independent review. The review will investigate what might have led to the damage at Toddbrook and whether there was anything that could have prevented it. The review will also consider if the legislation that governs reservoir safety remains fit for purpose. An interim report is due by the end of the year.

10.0 Government announces £62m extra funding for flood defence 11.1 On 10 September 2019, Government announced an additional £62.4m of

capital funding for investment in flood risk management schemes. 11.2 The additional funding will be invested in 13 schemes and will better protect

over 9,000 homes when complete. The Northern Powerhouse will benefit the most, with £56m going to projects in Yorkshire, Cumbria & Lancashire and the North East.

11.3 £19m is set to go to Calder Valley, where the Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge

and Brighouse schemes will be developed. Work on these schemes is due to begin next year. Communities in Yorkshire will also receive additional funding with more money for the Tadcaster Flood Alleviation Scheme and additional funding for defences at Sowerby Bridge.

11.4 Cumbria and Lancashire are due to receive the second largest amount of

funding, with £22.8m now available to support four flood projects in Kendal, Egremont, Flimby and Preston and South Ribble. The proposed scheme for Kendal involves three phases, of which the first will provide a 1 in 50 level of protection for 1,480 homes and 1,151 businesses.

Project Location Additional Funding

(£m)

Potential partnership funding contributions

(£m)

Lincoln Defences Lincolnshire 1.2 0.8

Stokesley Flood Alleviation Scheme North Yorkshire 1.8 0.0

Marton West Beck - Middlesbrough North Yorkshire 1.8 0.4

Shonks Mill Flood Storage Area (River Roding) Essex 5.1 4.8

Preston and South Ribble Lancashire 15.8 9.5

Sowerby Bridge West Yorkshire 1.7 0.0

Tadcaster Flood Alleviation Scheme North Yorkshire 9.0 1.0

Kendal Cumbria 5.0 6.8

Egremont Cumbria 1.6 5.0

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Flimby Cumbria 0.4 0.0

Mytholmroyd West Yorkshire 3.0 4.5

Hebden Bridge West Yorkshire 11.0 1.5

Brighouse West Yorkshire 5.0 6.4

James Bevan September 2019

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Board Meeting

Wednesday 9 October 2019 Item no. 9.1 Appendix 1: Progress against EA EDI Delivery/action plan

Appendix 2: Key Highlights from the last 12 months Appendix 3: Progress against the Equality Objectives Delivery Plan 2018–2020

Sponsor: John Leyland, Chief of Staff Title: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – Annual Report


1. Note the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) highlights for the year up to June 2019 2. Note the progress to deliver the statutory objectives for 2017-2020 including the delivery of the current in year plan for 2019-20.

Key points for discussion To reflect on the breadth of EDI activity and progress so far, and the approach we have taken to deliver the EA Board approved statutory equality objectives. How will this paper/these recommendations help us tackle the climate emergency successfully? Improving the diversity of our workforce and creating and equal and inclusive culture, where all employees can thrive will improve our performance in tackling the climate emergency successfully. Governance What meetings/groups have already reviewed this item? EDT

What meetings/groups need to review this item next? Are there any risks associated with the evidence and analysis in the paper? [Include where relevant] How will the key messages/decisions be communicated? This will be determined following the Board meeting.

Legal Services have been consulted and confirm no legal annex is required

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1.0 Introduction 1.1 Since 2012 we have been reporting progress against our 4 year Public Sector

Equality Duty (PSED) Equality Objectives. In January 2017, Defra group launched its EDI Strategy for 2017-2020, and in July 2017 the Board approved the statutory Environment Agency equality objectives to remain compliant with the PSED. Those revised equality objectives take us forward to 2020, and align with the Defra group EDI Strategy. The progress against objectives form the basis of EDT and Board corporate updates.

1.2 In March 2019, EDT approved an investment of £300k for 2019/2020 to strengthen EDI and improve network resilience. The Corporate Management Team (CMT) have worked with the Executive Directors’ Team and the Corporate Business Forum to agree EDI priorities for 2019-20. CMT have also connected with the Networks to identify the best way to invest these funds to enable Network Resilience. HR and the Corporate Management Team developed an additional action plan to enhance our delivery of our Fair and Transparent Practices, Diverse Workforce and Inclusive Workplace Culture objectives (see Appendix 1).

1.3 This paper provides key highlights from the last 12 months (see Appendix 2) and achievement of the Equality Objectives (Appendix 3). This paper also provides an update on the development of the replacement EDI Strategy and Equality Objectives.

2.0 The Public Sector Equality Duty Delivery Plan 2018-2020 2.1 Appendix 3 provides a summary of our achievement against our five equality

objectives as part of our statutory requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Employee equality – “equal, diverse and inclusive” a. Fair and transparent practices b. Diverse workforce c. Inclusive workplace culture

Customer equality: d. Customer understanding e. Customer services

3.0 EDI Strategy and Equality Objectives for 2020 - 2024 3.1 We have done so much, and achieved many positive outcomes for equality,

diversity and inclusion over the past 12 months. However there is still much more work to be done to make sure we have a truly diverse, inclusive and equal workforce, and to meet our aspiration of being the best employer in the country for equality, diversity and inclusion.

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3.2 The Q1 2019/20 Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) employee figure is 4.3%, up from 4.1% at the end of Q4 2018/19. This is still far from our ambitious 14% target, however the momentum is in the right direction. (In the past 10 years we have only moved up 0.8%, excluding the 0.2% in the Q1). In Q1 2019/20 9% of new starters were BAME (28 new starters from a BAME background out of 312 new starters). The percentage of external BAME applicants routinely matches the national 10% representative of job applications across all sectors in the external market.

3.3 The female Executive Managers (EM) figure is 41.1%, which is a 6.2%

increase from Q4 2018/19 at 34.9%. This is largely down to internal recruitment. However as a consequence of this there is, therefore, a reduction of female employees at Grade 7.

3.4 The Performance Management Review (PMR), and associated trials relating

to age and other protected characteristics, is being undertaken across Defra group, the findings from this will be shared with EDT.

3.5 Our third pay gap report will be published later this year, we publish pay gap

information for disability, race, religion & belief and sexual orientation as well as gender. We won the enei pay gap award last year for this approach. The 2019 pay gap data shows an improvement for all characteristics for both the mean and median ordinary hourly pay gaps. The bonus pay gaps have improved for all characteristics for the mean and median except for gender and disability where the mean bonus pay gap has increased. The main reason for the gender and disability mean pay gap widening is that the proportion of women and disabled Executive Managers that received a bonus in 2017/18 was lower than the previous year. This does not indicate a concern as the proportion of female Executive Managers receiving a bonus will fluctuate each year, for example it has increased this year.

3.4 Further work will be undertaken with Networks to improve their resilience

looking at their governance, plans and priorities ensuring that any budget provision is maximised to have the best effect on their EDI impact.

3.5 As our current EDI strategy finishes at the end of this financial year, the Defra

group Corporate HR EDI team have started work to review this and to develop a new strategy. The strategy will be developed in conjunction with feedback from the business and a plan will be implemented based on the data available from across the group. The Defra group Corporate HR EDI team will engage EDT on this in the coming months.

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4.0 Conclusion 4.1 EDT have agreed to maintain a focus on delivering the existing EDI delivery

plan through to the end of the financial year with a particular focus on BAME representation and women in Executive Manager posts through the provision of the additional £300k investment. EDT will also reiterate the importance of all managers undertaking unconscious bias training through their leadership messages.

Joanne Hoare Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Business Partner September 2019

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Appendix 1: Progress against the EA Action Plan 2019 Accountability

We communicated key messages in EM roundup and Managers Need to Know focused on refreshing awareness of EDI objectives and responsibilities. We encouraged regular conversations on equality, diversity and inclusion at team and management level and embedding EDI objectives in performance plans. On the horizon: Development of EA wide programme plan to show EDI activity and effort across the EA. Governance

Coordination A national EDI coordinator is in post until 31 March 2020 in the Corporate Management team to coordinate the EDI delivery/action plan. A plan is in place to ensure good visibility of local and national initiatives, to share best practice and to evaluate and ensure approach is sustainable and targets are achieved. Network resilience A Network leads coordinator is in post until 31 March 2020 to work with the HR EDI team in supporting the employee networks. The focus is to improve network resilience by providing access to resources and mobilising network leads to create a Network resilience plan.

o As part of the EDT investment bid of £300k, a central pot of money has been made available for networks to access. Corporate Management Team are managing a process is in place for networks to bid for resources. An assessment and prioritization process is underway. Following requests from networks, funding has already been approved to provide: Women’s Network: A part-time G5 lead until March 2020. Autism Network: Bespoke training with the National Autistic Society to help with

specialist support. Other bids have been received which are currently under assessment.

o Two cross network resilience meetings have been held and another is planned for October to enable networks to work better together to strengthen EDI and to shape a Network resilience plan to enable better staff support and resource management.

o We have continued to bring the disability networks together under the disability federation to ensure joined up working on shared issues. A number of the EA disability network leads are actively supporting the new Defra Group Disability Board, sharing their best practice.

Actions over the employee life cycle

Attraction: Recruitment is underway for 2 additional EDI Officers to work in a pilot project with 2 new local communities to increase the B.A.M.E application rate.

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Funding has been approved for one EDI officer to continue working in the SE and coordinate a national approach. The aim is to use these 3 pilots to create a national toolkit by March 2020 for outreach for under-represented groups with an initial focus on BAME applicants. Recruitment: EDI improvements will be captured in the current recruitment improvements that are underway. This will include changes to the recruitment process and improvements to blind sifting to reduce unconscious bias. We will soon be sharing the results of our Business Disability Forum recruitment review, although this focusses on disability we anticipate being able to make recommendations for all protected characteristics. Retention: We will review the current EDI learning and development with network input offer to ensure it meets our needs. This year we have updated our positive action programmes and introduced new EDI masterclasses. Termination: We are currently reviewing the exit interview process. We are developing a new template taking ideas and feedback from our employee networks. We are working with SSCL to investigate options of completion, analysis and reporting. We aim to have the improved process in place by the end of the Financial year

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Appendix 2: Key Highlights from the last 12 months

Highlights include:

An additional in year action plan for 2019/2020. The plan focuses on: o Accountability and governance o Network resilience o A range of improvements over the employee life cycle with a particular focus on

attraction, recruitment, retention and leavers.

An Area Director Recruitment Campaign that successfully improved our female Executive Manager representation. The applicant pool was predominately male (75%) however the proportion of female candidates significantly increased during shortlisting and the overall gender appointment split was 62.5% female 37.5% male. EDI was a central consideration in this recruitment campaign and a proactive approach was taken to attract a more diverse candidate pool. This included:

o Interactive website linked to the advert which showcased the roles, the culture of the organisation and linked to Vercida with EDI case studies.

o A cross section of senior leaders recorded videos for social media talking about the roles and diverse culture – including Louise Cresswell talking about working flexibly as a parent and a senior leader for the EA.

o Attraction strategy was designed with EDI at the forefront – gender decoder was carried out on all of the adverts and EDI expertise was to keep advertising wide ranging with targeted language and push on our diverse culture (previous evidence found targeted BAME media was not as successful).

o Long listing was outsourced to the Government Recruitment Service as well as blind sifting which provided another level of objectivity to the shortlisting.

With support from EDT the EU Citizen’s network, HR and the EU Exit Programme team

worked together to put in place support for our EU National employees (or people affected by this issue). This included time off and the provision of mobile phones to support applying for settlement status, a line manager’s guide to support staff affected and a series of workshops with an external immigration lawyer (sponsored by Legal Services). Senior Leaders have demonstrated their support by active involvement in the networks events and messages of support.

We celebrated EDI week by; o launching three new employee networks; autism, carers and stammering. o a Diversity and Confidence Programme webinar bringing our equality objectives

to life with managers sharing the good practice happening in their areas. o hosted market stalls to show case the employee networks available to support

employees.

We achieved a gold award in the MIND Workplace Wellbeing Index for the third year in a row.

We implemented a breastfeeding policy to support parents on their return to work.

It has been great to see a number of the networks pooling resources by working together

on initiatives, such as The Cancer Network and Fatigue Network alongside the Wellbeing Team to inform employees of the importance of supporting colleagues with chronic illnesses by not coming into the office with coughs.

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Launched the Sikh Fellowship with two national webinars and a Sikh Awareness Day.

Continued our outreach work with a stand at the Big Bang Fair, the largest science and

engineering fair for young people aged 7-19.

The Chronic Pain network hosted webinars to support line manager understanding and created a Line Manager Resource Pack.

Ensuring new employees understand our EDI aims by EDI team virtual attendance at

the new Welcome Days.

The facilitation network has developed, working collaboratively with staff-led support networks, a new checklist to help ensure meetings, or external events with stakeholders are inclusive and consider a range of hidden challenges participants may have. This is to enable simple adjustments to be put in place to enable participants to fully participate and contribute.

We have revamped our positive action programmes, now called Facing North, we have

run this for BAME, LGBT and disabled colleagues and have received fantastic feedback each time. We are currently reviewing the women’s programme to ensure that it is redesigned to provide the best support going forward.

We won the ‘Dynamic Mentoring Organisation of the Year' award at this year’s recent 30% Club presentation in London.

Finished delivering “Increase the Pace on Race” workshops to all areas and the Operations Executive Group ran a BAME inclusion workshop.

The Women’s Network published their annual Role Models publication to inspire employee to progress their career development goals.

The BAME network and Strategic Resourcing have created an inclusive recruitment guide and have trained BAME volunteers to support recruitment by helping us to have more diverse interview panels.

We have been using VERCIDA to raise our profile amongst diverse groups and were awarded their Top 10 Disability Inclusive Employer for 2018.

we placed 13th in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index for 2019 – up from 18th last year and 47th in 2017,

o this is the 12th successive year that we’ve made the Top 100, competing with over 400 organisations across the country.

o our LGBT network also received the WEI award for “Highly Commended Network Group”.

o in response to feedback the network have established a Bi Inclusion Group.

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Appendix 3: Progress against the Equality Objectives Delivery Plan 2018–2020

Employee focused equality objectives

1. Fair and transparent practices We aim to remove barriers (and provide positive action support) for people from under-represented protected characteristics groups, ensure employees treat each other fairly, equally and with respect. We have seen minor increases over the three years in the number of Equality Analyses being done; 15 in 2016/17, 23 in 2017/18 and in 2018/19 that have been shared with the EDI team. In June 2019 45% of line managers have completed Unconscious Bias training, this is up from 37% in February 2018. A recruitment report has been developed which shows each area and business board their attraction, shortlisting and offers for disability, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. We have twice published our pay gap data for gender, disability, ethnicity, religion and belief and sexual orientation. This inclusive approach won us the 2018 enei pay gap award. The proportion of participants reporting that they have been subject to bullying and harassment has reduced by 2% from 11% in the 2016 employee survey to 9% in the 2018 survey. Work to raise the awareness of the impact of bullying and harassment has included; two national campaigns, a diversity and confidence programme webinar and a national conference. We have also refreshed the Grievance, Bullying and Harassment policy, with better access to support mechanisms. We are working with the Corporate Business Forum to ensure that our apprenticeship activities are more targeted and aligned to our strategic workforce planning needs. We will be using a resource forecasting exercise to plan where apprenticeships will be an appropriate resource. Being able to recruit apprenticeships on a larger scale will enable us to better address EDI and ensure we maximise our use of apprentices from under-represented groups. 2. Diverse workforce We aim to create and maintain a diverse workforce (including our Board and Executives) that better reflects the UK’s economically active population. Between June 2018 and June 2019, we have seen increases in the numbers of our employees self-declaring their diversity characteristics online:

o Disability, an increase from 73% to 82%; o Ethnicity, successfully maintained at 97%; o Religion, an increase from 72% to 80%; o Sexual Orientation, an increase from 75% to 83%.

Age - The largest age group is 36-40 years (16%); this first became the case four years ago, previously it had been the 31-35 year group. The highest grade attained within the under 25 age group is grade 5; this is a small proportion of under 25’s (5%). However for age group 26-30, the proportion increases to 25% for employees attaining higher grade posts, including representation at grade 7, and for age group 31-35 this rises to 47% including representation at the highest EM grade.

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Disability - Out of the 81% of employees who declared their disability status, 14% said they were disabled or had a long term health condition. The proportion of employees declaring a disability is below that of the general population (19% of UK population of working age):

o The top three disability types that have been declared are; Chronic / long term health condition (5%), other (3%) and Dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties (3%). These are the same top categories as the previous year.

o The grade breakdown of employees who have declared a disability is in line with the grade breakdown for the Environment Agency overall.

o The race breakdown of employees who have declared a disability is similar for BAME employees to the Environment Agency overall, 4% of employees who have declared a disability are black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME).

Gender - The Environment Agency’s workforce as a whole comprises a higher proportion of men (57.5%) than women (42.5%):

o At higher grades there are more men (57%) than women (43%). This is particularly the case with the gender breakdown for Grade 7s (67:33 male-female) and Executive Managers (59:41 male-female).

o For Executive Managers this represents a relatively large increase of 7% for women since the previous year where the ratio was 64:36; this is largely a result of a successful Executive Manager recruitment campaign.

o The age profile is older for men than for women, the largest age group for men is 51-55 and for women it is 36-40 years old.

Gender Identity - 58% of employees have declared their gender identity, this is a 2% drop. Of these a low percentage (7 individuals) identify as transgender. Race - Employees from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups comprise approximately 4% of Environment Agency staff. This is lower than the general population where BAME groups represent 14% of the general working age population:

o The largest grade groups for BAME staff are Grades 4 (28%) and 5 (29%), this is the similar to the overall grade profile for the Environment Agency, but with more BAME staff in Grade 4 (28% against 24% overall).

o The BAME gender is split as Male: Female 55:45. At lower grades it is 49:51 and at higher grades it is 55:45.

Religion - 80% of employees have declared their religion:

o The top three responses are No Belief (40%), Christian (33.5%) and Other (4.5%). There are small numbers of employees who belong to Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish religions.

Sexual Orientation - 83% of employees have declared their sexual orientation and approaching 3% of the workforce declared their sexual orientation as gay man, gay woman / lesbian, bisexual or other:

o The grade profile is approximately the same for the LGB population as the Environment Agency population overall, with the highest proportion of people being Grades 4 and 5 combined (57%). However the grade profile for LGB staff is slightly weighted towards lower grades (56%) compared to the proportion of Environment Agency staff overall in lower grades (49%).

Approximately 18% of staff have a part time working pattern:

o 6% of men and 34% of women work part time. o The age group with the highest part time working pattern is the 36-40 year olds (26%).

Social Economic Background measures have been introduced to SOP, there we should be able to include data on this in next year’s EDI update. An initial report from SSCL from 21 August

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shows that the EA has the highest completion rates from SOP organisations across government with 20%. The other organisations achieved between 5% and 11%. 3. Inclusive workplace culture

We aim to create a “life enhancing” working environment that values and embraces difference. We will foster an inclusive workplace culture where colleagues from all backgrounds can bring their whole self to work, progress their career, and feel their uniqueness is valued Our Executive Managers have been actively demonstrating inclusive behaviours, particularly during EDI week last year when a number of Executive Managers supported EDI messages through webinars, a Question Time panel event and equaliteas sessions. The EDT meeting all staff emails summarising the EDI sessions and the pay gap all staff messages from the Executive Champions helps to demonstrate inclusive leadership. A network co-ordinator has been appointed to support the employee networks. We have analysed performance ratings by protected characteristics for the last three years, we are working with EDT to develop an action plan including making this data more transparent. Our employee survey responses to the EDI questions is still very encouraging even though they have stayed the same or had a small reduction from 2016 to 2018: The EA is committed to diversity and equality at work – 1% drop to 84% The EA respects individual differences – 2% drop to 80% I am treated fairly at work – stayed the same at 81% We have introduced a range of EDI learning interventions; EDI Masterclass, Managing Disability Masterclass, mental health masterclass, Unconscious Bias workshop. As well as new EDI and Unconscious Bias e-learning modules. These are aimed at developing our line managers inclusive leadership and to create an inclusive workplace culture for their teams. We are doing a Workplace Adjustment Review with Business Disability Forum to evaluate the Workplace Adjustment policy that was introduced in September 2017. Customer focused equality objectives

4. Customer understanding We will continue to better understand and relate to the diversity of those we provide services for. We will better understand the impact of our services on customers with a protected characteristic including identifying clearly those who need enhanced support, such as foreign language support We have attended community events such as Leicester Rathra where we provided multi lingual information sheets covering Bengali, Gujerati, Hindi, Panjabi and Urdu, we also took the Incident Command Unit to support our engagement with hard to reach groups. We have also attended a number of pride events to talk about our work and our inclusive culture. Following an EDI presentation at the Working with Others conference we have been working with our Engagement team to develop their capability of doing equality analysis for our engagement and consultation activities, this work will be launched at their conference this year.

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There are a couple of examples from the last year of our social media representing some diverse groups, such as the promotion of our attendance at the Warrington Disability Awareness Day for which we received 4,500 views and over 200 interactions. These examples are fairly limited and it would be good to further improve this to ensure that our external image makes the full range of diverse communities we represent feel included. The resonating with BAME communities project has been researching this from a race perspective and is due to report their recommendations shortly.

5. Customer service We will continue to ensure that our Public Sector Equality Duty is reflected in appropriate EA proposals, policies, processes, projects, and programmes, and in procurement We have continued to see an increase in the number of FCRM projects doing equality analysis to ensure that our services are inclusive. We have embedded EDI into the procurement framework for the Next Generation Supplier Arrangements (NGSA) by ensuring that the supplier questions covered all aspects of our public sector equality duty, providing EDI specialist input to the tender evaluations and ensuring EDI is covered in the NGSA annual plan. The Water and Environment Management Framework Diversity Task and Finish Group have implemented a Diversity Award to promote and reward inclusive behaviours amongst our suppliers.

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Board Meeting

Wednesday 9 October 2019 Item no. 9.2

Sponsor: Toby Willison, Executive Director Operations

Title: Health Safety and Wellbeing Annual Report


1. Note our Health, Safety and Wellbeing performance in 2018/19 2. Comment on any health, safety or wellbeing areas of concern or requiring

prioritisation. Key points for discussion Are the Board satisfied with the advice that they, and our senior management, are meeting the expectations made of them by the Health and Safety Executive? Do the Board accept the analysis and judgement regarding our HSW performance in 2018/19? With our performance and activities in 2018/19 in mind, do the Board wish for us to prioritise any particular areas of health, safety and wellbeing, or are there aspects that cause concern and require addressing? Governance What meetings/groups have already reviewed this item? Executive Directors Team Audit and Risk Assurance Committee National Negotiating Group

21 May 2019 19 June 2019 2 May 2019

What meetings/groups need to review this item next? None

Are there any risks associated with the evidence and analysis in the paper? The analysis is based on best professional judgement, using relevant data where appropriate. There are no significant risks associated with this analysis, save that it is recognised that we need to develop a more comprehensive suite of leading performance measures. These are in development. How will the key messages/decisions be communicated? Through the usual HSW channels, depending upon the message/ decision: e.g. Safeguard action; monthly HSW slide pack; etc. Legal Services have been consulted and confirm no legal annex is required Legal advice provided by: Shelley McGhie

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1.0 Introduction 1.1 This paper provides the Board with a summary report on our health, safety and

wellbeing performance in 2018/19. The report was considered by EDT in May and the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee in June.

1.2 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends that senior management

should review health and safety performance at least once a year. The HSE recommends the review should:

• Examine whether the health and safety policy reflects the organisation’s current priorities, plans and targets;

• Examine whether risk management and other health and safety systems have been effectively reported to the Board;

• Report health and safety shortcomings, and the effect of all relevant board and management decisions;

• Decide actions to address any weaknesses and a system to monitor their implementation;

• Consider immediate action in the light of major shortcomings or events. 1.3 Our Safe and Well values and commitments (our policy) were built through a

thorough consultative exercise, reflect the needs of the business and remain relatively new and current. They remain relevant to our priorities, and informed the Health, Safety and Wellbeing (HSW) plan for 2018/19. The plan included our assessment of the key risks that we had to manage and the actions for addressing them.

1.4 We undertake triennial independent reviews of our health and safety

management system and arrangements. The last assessment earlier this year by an independent health and safety specialist concluded that our arrangements are suitable, although they recommended some improvements that we are acting upon. In particular these recommendations cover competence of staff, training and risk assessment.

1.5 The 2018/19 HSW plan was designed to address known weaknesses in our

arrangements, and the 2019/20 plan, which has been widely consulted upon in its development, has similarly been designed to address areas of concern. Updates are provided to Operations Leadership Team (OLT), as well as briefings to Executive Directors when issues emerge. Each quarter the Board’s Audit and Risk Assurance Committee considers HSW matters, and EDT is formally updated every six months, as well as the monthly briefing by the Executive Director of Operations. Based on this rhythm of oversight, I am of the view that the Executive Directors and the Board are meeting the HSE’s expectations.

1.6 Whilst our overall performance is good, we have recognised that it runs the risk

of tailing off if we do not keep our approach and the messaging around it fresh. We therefore need to consider how we can re-energise our approach.

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Therefore in 2018/19 we will focus on two main elements within our plan: a) ensure that the improvements made over the last few years have embedded, ensuring we get the basics right; and b) to develop plans for the next refresh of HSW, drawing on best practice from across the private and public sector.

2.0 Summary of Performance

Lost Time Injuries (LTI) 2.1 24 colleagues suffered work related injuries requiring them to take time off

during 2018/19. By comparison, 30 sustained such injuries in the whole of 14/15, 31 in 15/16, 21 in 16/17 and 32 in 17/18. Our lost time injury frequency rate (injuries per 100,000 hours worked) was 0.13, with our best ever achievement being 0.10 in Q2 2017/18. Our rate compares very favourably with comparable organisations in the water and other sectors, even though we generally adopt a more conservative definition of what constitutes a lost time injury. In 2019/20, the LTI rate has continued its downward trend.

2.2 19 of the 24 injuries were sustained by Field Operations team members. Of

these, 3 were due to slips, trips or falls; 5 manual handling; 6 related to using a tool or machine; 2 wasp stings; 2 injured by vegetation and 1 trod on a nail. The non-Field Operations injuries were 3 slips, trips or falls, 1 musculoskeletal injury associated with a stretching exercise and 1 related to electro-fishing.

2.3 In terms of recent actions that we have taken to address the hazards linked to

our LTIs, we have refreshed and updated our manual handling training. We also act on the specific lessons from each incident, whether at a local or national level. For example, national actions included re-issuing our guidance on the safe use of woodworking machines.

Other indicators of performance

2.4 The employee survey has provided helpful insights into the HSW culture of the organisation. In particular the influence that support services can have on health and wellbeing is quite marked in the feedback, and something we are addressing. The survey has been the subject of detailed discussions with the Trade Union HSW representatives, OLT and other groups, all of which has informed our response to the survey. HSW is one of the aspects of the survey prioritised by EDT, and actions have been included in the national survey action plan, as well as at business unit and team level.

2.5 There was an increase in the proportion of ill-health cases referred to our

support services. As usual, mental ill health and musculoskeletal issues (MSK) are the top 2 reasons for referral. Our scorecard measure is based on at least 70% of ill-health cases being referred for occupational health advice. Whilst we achieved the highest % of referrals since Q4 16/17 and the mental health referral rate was green (78%), the MSK referral rate was amber (63.1%). The HSW Service routinely contacts line managers who have not made a referral to

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understand why. In most cases support was already being provided by the NHS. Nonetheless, there are still cases of MSK and mental ill-health that would benefit from our support services, and we continue to promote them at every opportunity.

2.6 2018/19 was another record year for reporting in SHERMS, with almost 8,400

events reported. Active monitoring has continued to grow steadily during the last two years, and makes up much of this reporting. We need to encourage the same growth in near miss and hazard reporting. Use of the monthly HSW briefing pack has also remained strong, averaging 1650 downloads per month.

2.7 Overall, these and other measures, such as again achieving the Gold standard

in the MIND Mental Health Index, continue to indicate that health, safety and wellbeing is part of how we do business, rather than the “bolt on” that it sometimes felt like when we embarked on the Safe and Well programme four years ago, and that our culture is continuing to improve.

Safety Critical Incidents

2.8 Safety Critical Incidents are subject to particularly rigorous review to maximise our learning from them. We experienced 10 safety critical incidents in 2018/19. This compares with 17 in 2017/18, 19 in 2016/17, 14 in 2015/16, 31 in 2014/15 and 36 the year before. As usual, the lessons from these incidents are shared by HASLE notices and Safeguard actions.

3.0 Contact with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 3.1 There was little regulatory interest from the HSE in 2018/19 compared to

previous years. There have been no investigations of any injuries reported to the HSE, nor any inspections of our activities, although they have twice visited contractor-managed construction sites.

3.2 A Safety Critical Incident involving an electrical flashover where contractors

sustained injuries, was investigated by the HSE, but they did not show any interest in our role. The electrical contractor was issued with an improvement notice. A complaint regarding our use of herbicides on a specific job was also investigated, but again did not attract any advice or action. An inspection of the Boston Barrier construction site did lead to the Inspector reviewing how we had discharged our Client duties, and again the Inspector was satisfied that we had discharged our duties appropriately.

3.3 In 18/19 the HSE has sought our support and advice on the training they

provide for their staff who work near water. After reviewing our training, the HSE adopted our course for their staff. This opened the door for discussions on a number of issues of mutual interest where we can learn from each other: there is a significant correlation of the risks to employees that both organisations

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have to manage. The collaboration has continued with two subsequent “sharing and learning” meetings.

3.4 My annual review meeting with the HSE in the summer of 2018 did not identify

any significant actions for us. The 2019 review meeting is in October. 4.0 Conclusion and recommendations 4.1 Our Operations Field Teams are exposed to a wide range of hazards because

of the types of work they do. We are required by law to provide health surveillance for certain health conditions they may experience or hazards they are exposed to. The 2018/19 programme revealed that we had no new referrals for work-related cases of hand/arm vibration syndrome. This is the first time we have achieved this, and is due to the proactive management of work involving vibrating tools and use of our monitoring systems that we have adopted.

4.2 For 2019 we have extended the health programme in Field Operations,

rebranding it “Fit for Life”. It additionally includes wellness tests (for example blood pressure, cholesterol), mental fitness awareness and links to support and advice (including Mates in Mind, occupational health, counselling and physiotherapy).

4.3 We began introducing the Mates in Mind programme in Field Operations,

designed specifically to help end the stigma surrounding mental ill health amongst manual workers. We have already received some great feedback from managers and team leaders who have attended the ‘Managing the Conversation’ sessions. Over the coming months we will conclude rolling these sessions and sessions tailored specifically for team members across the areas.

4.4 Last year we launched new face to face managing health and safety and

managing wellbeing courses for line managers, and 684 delegates were trained in 2018/19. We have also launched an e-learning version of the wellbeing training to make it more accessible, plus a new face to face Mental Health Awareness course (X128) for line managers and wellbeing supporters which aims to improve awareness and confidence in supporting team members through periods of mental distress or illness. Together with the publication of revised managing stress guidance and quarterly webinars focussing on mental health, these actions have contributed to us maintaining our Gold rating in the Mind mental health index.

5.0 Assurance of the Supply Chain 5.1 As a major construction client, we take our responsibilities very seriously. As in

previous years we delivered a programme of audits across the construction

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activities of our teams and our suppliers. We completed 99 (compared to 86 the previous year) site inspections on projects delivered by supply chain partners through our WEM and Vegetation Management Frameworks. We also provided assurance on construction and maintenance activities undertaken by Field Operations, undertaking 27 site inspections (20 in 17/18). The HSW Service has worked hard with National Field Operations and Areas to ensure that the SME companies on the Vegetation Management Framework are achieving our expected standards, and this continues to be a priority this year.

6.0 Completion of the 2018/19 HSW Plan 6.1 In addition to the routine business partnering and assurance work that we

undertake, as in previous years we had an ambitious plan designed to focus on our top risks and to make the necessary improvements to our HSW management arrangements, including continuing to focus on the competence of our people to manage risks. This work was delivered in cooperation with various parts of the business.

6.2 Highlights included:

a) A new HSW induction was developed and launched; b) Occupational road risk project completed and new, simplified arrangements for managing driver safety launched; c) Local exhaust ventilation (LEV) OI reviewed and re-issued; d) Revised requirements on managing welding fume exposure released; e) Line manager HSW foundation training plan fully delivered.

6.3 Throughout Brexit preparations, EDT stated that the HSW of our people and the

public would remain a priority. Nonetheless, recognising that the business had less capacity than usual to absorb new requirements, we carefully prioritised the release of some revised Operational Instructions, Safeguard actions, etc. or allowed more time than usual for the completion of actions. Any actions that were held over are kept under close review to ensure that we are not putting colleagues or the business at an unacceptable risk.

7.0 Conclusion 7.1 We continue to be ambitious in our health, safety and wellbeing performance.

Many of the leading indicators of behaviours suggest that we are doing the right things more often, which in turn accounts for our continuing improvement in performance. However, the employee survey has caused us to pause for thought and recognise that a much wider range of issues are now influencing how colleagues behave around with regard to HSW risks. We are targeting these issues, whilst continuing to maintain the leadership and focus on risk management, and not lose sight of the need to keep doing the basics right. As ever, we continue to simplify processes to make it easier for our colleagues to

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meet our requirements, whilst providing assurance audits and inspections to confirm that safe and well standards are being maintained.

Richard Houghton Deputy Director, Health, Safety and Wellbeing 26 September 2019

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Board Meeting

Wednesday 9 October 2019 Item no. 12.1 Appendix 1 – Draft Revised Pensions Committee Terms of Reference

Sponsor: Board Governance Team

Title: Board Committee Meetings update


1. Note the substantive agenda items discussed at Environment and Business Committee, Flood and Coastal Risk Management Committee, People and Pay Committee, Pensions Committee and ARAC since May 2019.

2. Approve the recommended change to Pensions Committee Terms of Reference.

Key points for discussion Committee Chairs will be asked to highlight particular areas of note for the Board.

Governance What meetings/groups have already reviewed this item? N/A

What meetings/groups need to review this item next? N/A

Are there any risks associated with the evidence and analysis in the paper? No How will the key messages/decisions be communicated? Through an oral update during the Board meeting.

No legal annex is required.

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1.0 Introduction 1.1 This paper provides a summary of substantive agenda items that have been

discussed at Committee meetings since the last full Board meeting on 16 May 2019.

2.0 Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) Committee 2.1 The FCRM Committee met on 24 July 2019. Substantive items discussed

were: Flood and Coast Conference review FCRM Strategy SR19 FCRM Committee Review Wainfleet Flooding Reflections RFCC Variations Approval

3.0 Environment and Business Committee 3.1 The Environment and Business Committee met on 26 June and 11 September

2019. Substantive items discussed were:

Placemaking New approach to tackling Waste Crime Air Quality Climate Change Radioactive Substances Health and Wellbeing Strategy RPEG 2018 Water Resources SRoC

4.0 People and Pay Committee 4.1 The People and Pay Committee met on 8 July 2019. Substantive items

discussed were:

Endorsement of the principles and content of the 2019 pay remit Special pay business case

4.2 The People and Pay Committee also met on 30 September to discuss:

Staff pay award 2019 Executive Manager pay award 2019

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5.0 Pensions Committee and Pensions Board 5.1 The Investment Sub-Committee met on 25 May and 17 July 2019. Substantive

items discussed were: Strategic monitoring and performance Brunel Pensions Partnership update EAPF investment strategy review EAPF future Responsible Investment Policy EAPF Investment Manager Value for Money assessment Review of business plan, risk register and forward.

5.2 The Pensions Committee met on the 17 June and 24 September 2019.

Substantive items discussed were: Annual Report & Financial Statements of the Closed and Active Pension

Funds for 2018-19 EAPF 2019 actuarial valuation Investment Sub Committee report and Review of Strategic Asset

Allocation Benefits administration, communications and change management EAPF Business Plan, Risk Management and Forward Look updates Risk register deep dive: Brunel Pension Partnership

5.3 The Pensions Committee agreed changes to the committee Standing Orders and ask the Board to approve the recommended changes, as summarised in Appendix 1. These are to allow approval of minutes by correspondence in addition to the current arrangements.

6.0 Audit and Risk Assurance Committee 6.1 The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) met on 19 June and 5

September 2019. Substantive items discussed were:

Approval of Environment Agency Annual Report & Accounts 2018-19 and Environment Agency Pension Funds Annual Report & Accounts

Prior to approval of the accounts, the Committee received updates on: Health, Safety & Wellbeing performance; Fraud, Money Laundering & Whistleblowing; Internal Audit inc. Annual Internal Audit report and opinion, Declarations of Interest compliance, and risk.

The Committee approved the accounts for both closed and active pension funds.

6.2 The Committee also discussed:

Capital Programme Reporting and large scale project management and expenditure

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Corporate Services partnership including update on key commercial contracts

National Audit Office: Value for Money programme update EU exit risks and opportunities

Board Governance Team 25 September 2019

1

11.0 Order and conduct of business

11.1 The Chair of the PC, Pension Board and ISC may nominate another Environment Agency Board member to chair a meeting in his/her absence. The PC, Pension Board or ISC may elect a member to chair a meeting in the absence of the PC, Pension Board or ISC Chair or any nominated deputy. In either case, the member who chairs the meeting will exercise any power or duty of the Chair of the PC, Pension Board or ISC in relation to the conduct of the meeting.

11.2 The order of business for all meetings is:

a) Apologies for absence and introductions of all who are present. b) Declarations of interest. c) The election of a Chair if the usual Chair is absent and has nominated no deputy (paragraph 11.1

above). d) The approval of the minutes as a correct record of the meeting (if not previously approved in line

with paragraph 13.2), and matters arising. e) Other business as on the agenda, for discussion, for decision and for noting. f) Urgent items and any other business items as the Chair of the meeting determines. g) A review of the effectiveness of the meeting. h) The date, location and time of next meeting.

11.3 All business at PC, Pension Board or ISC meetings will be conducted through the Chair by members speaking only when invited to do so by the Chair of the meeting.

11.4 The Chair will decide on attendance by any non-committee members, including any pension fund members, who may ask to attend as observers.

11.5 The Chair will decide on attendance by any non-Pension Board members, including any pension fund members, who may ask to attend as observers of the Pension Board.

13.0 Minutes

13.1 The Environment Agency Board Secretariat will minute the meetings of the Pensions Committee, Pension Board and the Investment Sub-Committee.

13.2 The Pension Committee, Pension Board or Investment Sub-Committee Chair, or in her/his absence the appointed Chair of the meeting, will sign the previous meeting's Minutes and initial each page, once approved by the Pension Committee, Pension Board or Investment Sub-Committee at the subsequent meeting. or by correspondence. If approval of the minutes is sought by correspondence then members of the Pension Committee, Pension Board or Investment Sub-Committee (as appropriate) must be given at least two weeks to respond to the correspondence seeking approval of the minutes and responses by the members Pension Committee, Pension Board or Investment Sub-Committee must be copied to all other members of that group. The minutes will only be taken as approved when responses approving the minutes (or approving subject to specified additions) are received from at least the minimum number and composition of members of the Pension Committee, Pension Board or Investment Sub-Committee to form a quorate meeting.

13.3 A signed copy of the minutes will be retained securely by the Secretariat, for a period of ten

years; thereafter the Minutes will be stored electronically. These Minutes will be evidence of the proceedings if they are signed by the person who was Chair of that meeting.

Appendix 1

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Board Meeting

Wednesday 9 October 2019 Information Paper Appendix 1: Corporate Scorecard Quarter One April 2019 to June 2019

Sponsor: Pat Bolster, Director of Finance

Title: Environment Agency Corporate Scorecard April to June 2019 (Quarter One 2019/20)

1.0 Summary of year to date performance at quarter one and key issues

1.1 At the end of quarter one 2019/20, the status of our performance measures is as follows: Measure status Number of measures*

Green 7

Amber 1

Red 5

Total 13*

* NB. There are twelve measures, however the diversity measure is comprised of two parts and so the number of reds, ambers and greens in the above table adds up to 13.

Please clearly state what decision you are seeking from the meeting The Board is asked to comment on:

a) performance for the financial year 2019/20, year to date at quarter 1 b) the actions indicated in the corporate scorecard report (Appendix 1)

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2. Corporate Scorecard Measures

NB. Measures in bold in this paper are reported quarterly to the Defra Board via the Defra group Scorecard.

Measure Comment

2 EA 1: The water environment is healthier

Performance 98%

Actual 951km;

Target 970km.

GREEN – Working with partners we are proud to report 951km of enhancements to the water environment this quarter, bringing this to 5,939km in total. This is a significant step towards our national target of 2,300km for the year. As well as enhancing 951km we have actively protected an additional 158km of the water environment from deterioration. We have taken steps to control the aggressively invasive Floating Pennywort in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, continued to reduce the risks of abstraction through licence reviews and have supported the fire service by managing risk to the environment during their emergency response. We will be reporting Environment Programme and FCRM programme delivery in quarter two. Ongoing uncertainty on the consequences of EU Exit means there is a risk that funding and capacity to deliver and report enhancements may be interrupted later this year.

2 EA 2: We protect people, the environment and wildlife by reducing serious environmental incidents

Performance 115%;

Actual 460;

Ceiling Target 400.

NB. The measure is rated green at

100% or lower. Amber is greater

than 100% but less than or equal

to 110%. Performance over 110%

is rated as Red.

RED – 82 incidents were recorded for quarter one 2019/20, which is considerably lower than the 137 incidents for quarter one of 2018/19. This number of incidents for quarter one looks like a promising start in our bid to meet our ambitious ceiling target of 400 incidents per year. However from last summer we are aware of the impact prolonged dry weather and extreme hot weather can have on incident numbers.

Incidents across all priority sectors showed the usual trend of decreasing from quarter four 2018/19 to quarter one of 2019/20, other than the water company pollution incidents which increased by two incidents from the 15 in 2018/19. Agriculture showed the biggest decrease going from 23 to five incidents when comparing the same quarter 12 months ago. The illegal waste sector also had a good reduction with 14 incidents this quarter compared to 20 a year ago.

2 EA 3: We create new habitat

This measure reports in the

fourth quarter; Target 1,280

hectares. The year‐end forecast is

Green

GREEN – Areas responded to a business planning request for an assessment of the risks to their targets with projects totalling 1,230 hectares (ha) against a target of 1,280 ha (96% of the target). Although several areas (Yorkshire, Hertfordshire and North London, West Midlands and Wessex) raised concerns that they were no longer able to deliver projects that they had proposed as part of this measure another (East Midlands) has been able to put forward extra habitat restoration to cover most of that shortfall. The year end forecast remains on track.

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Measure Comment

2 EA 4: We reduce the number of high risk illegal waste sites

Performance 132%;

Actual 260;

End of year Ceiling Target 196.

NB. The measure is rated green at

100% or lower. Amber is greater

than 100% but less than or equal

to 110%. Performance over 110%

is rated as Red.

RED – During quarter one the number of active high risk sites has increased from 250 to 260 and the total number of all active sites has increased from 680 to 691. Only two areas recorded reductions in their number of high risk sites. We are seeing a continuing trend in the increase of active sites over two years old. In quarter one the number increased from 183 to 196. The increase in the average age profile of active sites, and the associated risk, highlights the need to maintain a focus on older sites as well as early intervention at new sites. Tackling illegal waste activity remains a priority in our 2019/2020 strategic assessment of crime in the waste sector. The recruitment of additional staff funded by the £30m for waste crime is largely complete with staff now in training. We expect to see the main benefit of this resource towards the end of 2019/2020 although, in part, this will be offset by the £1.5m cut in Grant in Aid. Lower level enforcement activity is likely to be impacted which includes dealing with illegal waste sites.

2 EA 5: We reduce the risk of flooding for more households

Performance 100%;

Actual 195,256;

End of year Target 240,000.

GREEN – 23 separate projects have better protected a further 1,652 homes in quarter one of 2019/20 bringing the cumulative total since April 2015 to 195,256. The largest single scheme delivered during quarter one better protected 535 homes in Sheerness, North Kent.

We are forecasting the cumulative delivery at the end of 2019/20 to be over 260,000 against a target of 240,000.

The programme remains on track to better protect 300,000 homes by the end of March 2021.

2 EA 6: We maintain our flood and coastal risk management assets at or above the target condition

Actual 97.2%;

Target 98.0%.

AMBER – The National position for Environment Agency maintained high consequence asset condition has dropped since 2018/19 quarter four, from 97.9% to 97.2% in quarter one, against the 2019/20 target of 98%. This reflects the inspection programme being more front end loaded whilst asset repairs tend to be delivered later in the year.

Where assets are below the required condition this means that work is required, it does not mean that they have structurally failed or that performance in a flood would be compromised. If the performance of an asset is reduced, we will take action to ensure that flood risk is effectively managed until the asset is fully repaired or replaced.

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Measure Comment

2 EA 7: We have a first class incident response capability- Number of staff who are trained and ready to respond to incidents

Performance 109%;

Actual 6,548 staff;

Target 6,000 staff.

GREEN – We estimate that there are 6,548 trained and capable incident staff ready to respond to incidents. This is 109% of the target 6,000.

There has been a small reduction on last quarter's figures, reflecting natural staff turnover and ongoing work to improve accuracy of the data through the establishment of consistent role leads who are better able to track and audit the information recorded.

It is important to note that even though the target of trained staff has been met, this does not necessarily mean that all of these staff would be available to respond or be deployed during peak times.

We continue to maintain a strong pool of around 800 people in training who will contribute to our trained and ready workforce as they become capable and confident in their roles.

2 EA 8: We successfully influence planning decisions by local authorities

Performance 97.5%;

Target 97%.

GREEN – Performance for quarter one is 97.5% against a target of 97% and therefore green. The 21 applications not determined in line with our advice were a mixture of residential, industrial, commercial and infrastructure developments. The majority of such proposals were minor development, for example all the applications determined against our advice would create only 36 residential units. We continue to monitor for trends in decisions against our advice but are currently not seeing any.

By working with developers and LPAs to amend and improve initially unacceptable proposals, we can not only ensure that the risk from climate change are reduced, that the environment is protected and enhanced; and we also positively support sustainable growth. The decisions captured in quarter one show that by working with developers and LPAs we have helped to resolve significant environmental issues that could otherwise have led to planning applications for 2,393 new residential units being refused. Data from the Home Builders Federation and the Office of National Statistics shows that on average each new home contributes around £17k to UK economic output.

Our positive engagement will ensure that these residential developments will help contribute around £40m to UK economic output, support the Government's pledge to provide much needed housing; whilst at the same time ensuring that the natural environment is both protected and enhanced.

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Measure Comment

4 EA 9: We manage our money effectively to deliver our outcomes

Performance 95%;

Actual £273m;

Target £286m (100%).

GREEN – We invested 21% of full year budget in the first quarter of 2019/20, which represents a healthy start to the financial year and a very similar proportion invested to that achieved at the same point in 2018/19. Revised budgets have been allocated to business units reflecting changes in funding and environmental priorities for the new financial year. Finance are supporting the business in evaluating forecasts and managing programmes of work to ensure best use of all available funding.

4 EA 10: We reduce our carbon footprint

Performance 110%;

Actual 8,521;

Target 7,719

End of year target 30,876 tonnes

RED – We are slightly over our profiled target at the end of quarter one.

Carbon emissions from our pumping activities have increased by over a third (34%, 975 tonnes more) compared to the same period last year. This is mainly due to the increased operation of Ely-Ouse Transfer Scheme following maintenance work. This alone accounted for 82% of East Anglia’s quarter one carbon total and 28% of our overall quarter one carbon emission.

Despite seeing an increase in the purchase of extra fuel in some areas to ensure all our tanks / bowsers remain full in preparation for EU Exit, our carbon emissions from operational fuel usage have reduced by 19% (193 tonnes) compared to the same period last year. We are forecasting to achieve the year-end target and achieve a Green result.

4 EA 11: We have a diverse workforce: a) proportion of staff from a Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background

Actual 4.3%;

Target 14%.

RED – There were 28 new BAME recruits this quarter out of a total of 312 new starters, which represents 9.0% of all external recruits. This, along with the recent declarations campaign, contributed to a net increase in headcount from 431 in quarter four 2018/19 to 455, increasing the proportion of BAME employees in the Environment Agency to 4.3%; our 2016/20 aspirational target is 14%.

The strong rise in BAME recruitment this quarter reflects positively on the initiatives underway to move us towards our aspirations. These include promoting more community / university focused outreach work, unconscious bias training for recruiting managers, development programmes and mentoring for BAME staff, reviews of exit interviews, an EDT ‘Race Action Plan’, a refreshed resourcing strategy with all vacancies now placed on the VERCIDA online portal, blind sifting of CVs in recruitment, the "increase the pace on race" events, a more engaged BAME network and more active communication on our ethnic diversity.

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Measure Comment

4 EA 11: We have a diverse workforce:

b) proportion of our executive managers who are female

Actual 41%;

Target 50%.

RED – The percentage of female Executive Managers (EMs) is 41.4% which is considerably higher than last quarter’s result at 34.9% with the headcount rising to 36. This reflects strong success for female applicants in recent recruitment to Deputy Director roles and compares to a target of 50%. The equivalent figure for the UK Civil Service is 44.6%, which has increased from 38.7% in 2016. The percentage of female Grade 7 employees has fallen slightly to 33% (155), resulting directly from promotions to EM level; this changed little over the last six quarters. This compares to a target of 50% and an equivalent Civil Service Grade 6 figure of 44%.

4 EA 12: We provide a safe place to work: Lost Time Frequency Incident Rate per 100,000 hours worked

Actual 0.11;

Ceiling target 0.11.

GREEN – Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate (LTIFR) is a widely accepted lagging indicator of health and safety performance. We define lost time incidents as work related injuries resulting in a day or more lost time. By using such a conservative definition, plus a very low ceiling of 0.11 injuries per 100,000 hours worked, this creates a very challenging aspiration for our overall Health Safety and Wellbeing (HSW) performance.

The fact that we are usually close to this ceiling indicates that all the steps we have been undertaking to manage and further improve our HSW are delivering results in terms of reduced numbers of injuries to our people. In quarter one our rate has reduced to 0.11 which represents a significant improvement on the previous year.

These HSW improvements most recently include improvements in Field Operations teams specifically by refining the training, planning and managing of construction work. We have also reviewed incident response; manual handling training; and emphasis on near miss reporting and active monitoring, amongst many other things. We also continue to improve our processes for learning from LTIs and Safety Critical Incidents (SCIs), including a recently extending the range of incidents that our trained reviewers investigate.

Pat Bolster Director of Finance 9 September 2019

Units Q1 Actual Q1 TargetYear end target Q1 status

Year endforecast Page

Kilometres 951 970 2,300 Green Amber 2

Number of incidents in the last 12 months

460 400 400 Red Red3a3b3c

Hectares createdReports in

Q4Reports in

Q41,280

HectaresGreen Green 4

Number of high risk illegal waste sites

260 196 196 Red Red 5

Number of households better protected

195,256 194,000 240,000 Green Green 6

% of high risk assets at target condition

97.2% 98.0% 98.0% Amber Green 7

Number of people

6,548 6,000 6,000 Green Green 8

% decision notices successfully influenced

97.5% 97.0% 97.0% Green Green 9

% spend tobudget

95% 100% 100% Green Green 10

Tonnes of carbon dioxide

8,521 7,719 30,876 Red Green 11

% of workforce 4.3% 14% 14% Red Red 12

% of executive manager workforce

41% 50% 50% Red Red 12

LTI frequency rate per 100,000 hours

0.11 0.11 0.11 Green Green 13

a) The proportion of our staff who are from a black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background

b) The proportion of our executive managers who are female

4 EA 12 We have the lowest possible lost time incident (LTI) frequency rate

4 EA 10 We reduce our carbon footprint

4 EA 11 We have a diverse workforce:

4 EA 9 We manage our money effectively

2 EA 8 We successfully influence planning decisions by local authorities

2 EA 3 We increase biodiversity and promote an environmental net gain by creating more and better habitats for the benefit of people and wildlife (DEFRA)

Objective 2: Protecting and improving the environment

2 EA 1 The water environment is healthier (DEFRA)

2 EA 2 We protect people, the environment and wildlife by reducing serious environmental incidents (DEFRA)

2 EA 4 We reduce the number of high risk Illegal waste sites (DEFRA)

2 EA 5 We reduce the risk of flooding for more households (DEFRA)

2 EA 6 We maintain our flood and coastal risk management assets at or above the target condition (DEFRA)

2 EA 7 We have a first class incident response capability - number of staff who are trained and ready to respond to incidents (DEFRA)

Objective 4: Outstanding organisation

Environment AgencyCorporate scorecard 2019 to 2020

Quarter 1 - Year to dateApril 2019 - March 2020

Q1 status Q1 actual (Km) Q1 targetGreen 951 970 Amber

Action(s) Owner(s) Deadline(s)31/07/2019

31/07/2019

Year end forecast Year end target (Km)2,300

Kilometres of rivers, lakes and coastal waters enhanced this year Working with partners we are proud to report 951km of enhancements to the water environment this quarter, bringing this to 5,939km in total. This is a significant step towards our national target of 2,300km for the year. The majority of this has come from 2018/19 Water Industry National Environment Programme (NEP), and actions delivered through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Work has focused on reducing the impact of diffuse and point sources of pollution, improved farm infrastructure, and water companies improving their assets and infrastructure. The NEP has delivered some of the bigger enhancements, protecting eels by addressing barriers to their migration and preventing them getting trapped at major abstractions, as well as improving water quality through improved sewage treatment, for example, the removal of harmful nutrients from wastewater at sewage treatment works in the Midlands. As well as enhancing 951km we have actively protected an additional 158km of the water environment from deterioration. We have taken steps to control the aggressively invasive Floating Pennywort in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, continued to reduce the risks of abstraction through licence reviews and have supported the fire service by managing risk to the environment during their emergency response. We will be reporting Environment Programme and FCRM programme delivery in quarter two. Ongoing uncertainty on the consequences of EU Exit means there is a risk that funding and capacity to deliver and report enhancements may be interrupted later this year.

Insight cumulative totals

Actions

Area leads to chase actions delivered but not reported due to prolonged dry weather and European Union Exit work

Area Reporting Leads

Re prioritisation of work programmes to support delivery of outcomes where feasible

Area Leadership Teams

1,0441,213

1,4261,719

951

1,014

1,345

1,602

2,000

970

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

2018/19 Q1 2018/19 Q2 2018/19 Q3 2018/19 Q4 2019/20 Q1

Targets (Kilometres)

The numbers shown below are cumulative totals within each financial year only

Objective 2 A cleaner, healthier environment, benefiting people and the economy2 EA 1 The water environment is healthier

Q1 2019-20 Owners: Executive Directors of Environment and Business and Operations

4,314 4,483 4,696 4,9895,939

3,745 4,0764,333

4,731

5,959

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

2018/19 Q1 2018/19 Q2 2018/19 Q3 2018/19 Q4 2019/20 Q1Cumulative Actual Target 2021 Target

Targets (Kilometres)

2021 Target (Kilometres)

a

Q1 status Q1 actual (+10%) Ceiling Target ForecastRed 460 506 400 Red

Year end target400

Number of Category 1 and 2 pollution incidents by reported date

Number of Category 1 & 2 pollution incidents by sector insight - breakdown by main subsectors

Objective 2 Protecting and improving the environment

2 EA 2 We protect people, the environment and wildlife by reducingserious environmental incidents, Part 1 of 3Q1 2019-20 Owners: Executive Directors of Environment and Business and Operations

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35Category 1 and 2 incidents from illegal waste

management

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35Category 1 and 2 incidents from the water

company sector

0

5

10

15

20

2018 Jul-Sep 2018 Oct-Dec 2019 Jan-Mar 2019 Apr-Jun

Category 1 and 2 incidents from illegal waste management by type

Illegal Waste SiteBurning of WasteFly-TippingUnauthorised Waste Management Activity

0

2

4

6

8

10


Category 1 and 2 incidents from the main contributors to the water company sector

(>=5 incidents in the period)

Foul Sewer Sewage Treatment Works

Water Distribution System Pumping Station

Rising Main

436 631 631 553 496 400 400 400 400 400

696 602 507 495 430 446 538 532 515 460

0

200

400

600

800

2013/14 Q4 2014/15 Q4 2015/16 Q4 2016/17 Q4 2017/18 Q4 2018/19 Q1 2018/19 Q2 2018/19 Q3 2018/19 Q4 2019/20 Q1

12 month total to the end of the period shown

cat1 cat2 +10% Q Total Actual Cat 1 and 2 shown

Ceiling target

After seeing a significant rise in pollution incidents in 2013 we have targeted the sectors showing the poorest performance. For each sector we developed Pollution Incident Reduction Plans which we are now delivering. Incidents can be weather-related and will continue to show significantseasonal variations, especially as our weather patterns become more extreme.

The data shown here is using initial quarterly data which is subject to change. The results for the most recent quarters are likely to increase in future reports due to the inherent lag time in investigating and recording all the necessary incident details onto the reporting system.

b

Overview this quarter

Number of Category 1 & 2 pollution incidents by sector insight - breakdown by main subsectors

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2015

Jan-

Mar

2015

Apr

-Jun

2015

Jul-S

ep

2015

Oct

-Dec

2016

Jan-

Mar

2016

Apr

-Jun

2016

Jul-S

ep

2016

Oct

-Dec

2017

Jan-

Mar

2017

Apr

-Jun

2017

Jul-S

ep

2017

Oct

-Dec

2018

Jan-

Mar

2018

Apr

-Jun

2018

Jul-S

ep

2018

Oct

-Dec

2019

Jan-

Mar

2019

Apr

-Jun

Category 1 and 2 incidents from agriculture

0

2

4

6

8


Category 1 and 2 incidents from the main contributors to agriculture

Dairy and LivestockIntensive FarmingArable and HorticultureOther/unspecified Agriculture

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70 Category 1 and 2 incidents from other non regulated industry sectors

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2018 July-Sep 2018 Oct-Dec 2019 Jan-Mar 2019 Apr-Jun

Category 1 and 2 incidents from the main contributors to other non regulated industry

sectors (>=5 incidents in the period)

Natural Source Domestic and Residential

Service Sector Manufacturing

Transport Retail Sector

Protecting and improving the environment

2EA 2 We protect people, the environment and wildlife by reducingserious environmental incidents part 2 of 3Q1 2019-20 Owners: Executive Directors of Environment and Business and Operations

123

86

76 67 66

4227%

45%

62%

77%

91%100%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Other non regindustry sectors

Other reg indsectors

Illegal wastemanagement

Water company Not identified Agriculture

Pareto chart to show which sectors make up the most number of category 1 and 2 pollution incidents over the last 12 months

Number of incidents Cumulative %

c


30/09/2019

30/09/2019

Implementing plan of short to long term initiatives as detailed in 10 April 2019 briefing, including strategic engagement by Directors to improve water company performance and practical regulatory interventions to reduce incidents

Deputy Director - Water Quality

Action(s)

Continuing waste crime review to improve effectiveness of interventions, developing waste crime enforcement programme, formulate enforcement strategy and reviewing governance, deployment and priorities of front line staff

E&B and Incident Management & Resilience working together to identify the most appropriate way forward for reducing incidents in the ‘others’ category’ (non regulated and regulated)

Deputy Director - Waste Regulation

p y Substances & Installations Regulation

Commentary Insight1. Quarter one incident numbers82 serious incidents were recorded for quarter one 2019/20 (compares favourably with the 137 recorded in quarter one 2018/19). Target for the year is no more than 400.

2. 2018/19 incident numbers515 serious incidents recorded for the whole of 2018/19 - a rise on the 493 that we reported at the end of that quarter due to investigations being completed (430 recorded in 2017/18). Increase is attributed to prolonged dry weather and extreme summer temperatures.

3. Sector insightsIncidents across all priority sectors showed the usual trend of decreasing from quarter four 2018/19 to quarter one 2019/20, other than the Water Company pollution incidents which increased by two incidents from the 15 in 2018/19. a) Agriculture: showed the biggest decrease going from 23 to five incidents when comparing the same quarter 12 months ago. This reduction is believed to be due to the dry weather at the start of the quarter allowing farmers spread slurry and other materials to land with a reduced risk of run-off.b) Illegal Waste: had a reduction with 14 incidents (all category two) this quarter compared to 20 a year ago. Over half of the incidents occurred in Yorkshire and Cumbria/Lancashire areas but appear otherwise unconnected. We continue to tackle waste crime as a corporate priority; the Defra Resource and Waste Strategy published in Autumn 2018 presents a comprehensive series of actions and ambitions for tackling waste crime.c) Water Companies: incidents in quarter one show a seasonal increase from quarter four (from 10 in quarter four to 17 in quarter one). The overall trend is consistent with seasonal fluctuations and annual totals show a broadly constant level for five years. Incidents in quarter one 2019/20 were caused by both clean water assets (three) and waste water assets (14). We have recently established the 'Improving Water Company Performance' Programme, a joint Environment & Business and Operations initiative, to review and improve our regulation. d) Other Non-Regulated sectors: there were 20 incidents recorded in quarter one 2019/20, this is an increase against the previous final quarter of 2018/19, however it is a decrease of five incidents on the same quarter in 2018/19 (15 incidents). e) Other Regulated sectors and Not Identified: there were 11 incidents from the Other Regulated Sectors for quarter one 2019/20 compared with 33 incidents for the same quarter in 2018/19.

Protecting an improving the environment

2 EA 2 We protect people, the environment and wildlife by reducingserious environmental incidents part 3 of 3Q1 2019-20 Owners: Executive Directors of Environment and Business and Operations

Q1 target ForecastGreen Reports in Q4 Green

Action(s) Owner(s) Deadline(s)

Q1 status Q1 actual Year end targetReports in Q4 1,280 hectares (ha)

Hectares created (hectares) Areas responded to a business planning request for an assessment of the risks to their targets with projects totalling 1,230 hectares (ha) against a target of 1,280 ha (96% of the target). Although several areas (Yorkshire, Hertfordshire and North London, West Midlands and Wessex) raised concerns that they were no longer able to deliver projects that they had proposed as part of this measure another (East Midlands) has been able to put forward extra habitat restoration to cover most of that shortfall. The year end forecast RAG status therefore remains Green.

Actions

1,869 575 424 619 460

700

300400

530

410

1,280

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Target

Objective 2 Protecting and improving the environment2 EA 3 We increase biodiversity and promote an environmental net gain by creating more and better habitats for the benefit of people and wildlife

Q1 Status ForecastRed Red


30/06/2019

30/06/2019

Q1 Actual Ceiling Target Year end target260 196 196

Number of high risk illegal waste sites in England During quarter one the number of active high risk sites has increased from 250 to 260 and the total number of all active sites has increased from 680 to 691. Only two areas recorded reductions in their number of high risk sites, including Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire who stopped nine existing high risk sites whilst finding only three new high risk sites. We are red against the quarter one profiled target of 236. This is an adjusted target to reflect last year’s performance and Grant in Aid budget cuts.We are seeing a continuing trend in the increase of active sites over two years old. In quarter one the number increased from 183 to 196. The increase in the average age profile of active sites, and the associated risk, highlights the need to maintain a focus on older sites as well as early intervention at new sites.Tackling illegal waste activity remains a priority in our 2019/2020 strategic assessment of crime in the waste sector. The recruitment of additional staff funded by the £30m for waste crime is largely complete with staff now in training. We expect to see the main benefit of this resource towards the end of 2019/2020 although, in part, this will be offset by the £1.5m cut in Grant in Aid. Lower level enforcement activity is likely to be impacted which includes dealing with illegal waste sites.We continue to develop a dedicated enforcement strategy to ensure the effective deployment of resource in tackling waste crime and progress a comprehensive waste crime programme to streamline and maximise value from new and existing work streams. This includes setting up the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, a key recommendation from the Serious and Organised Waste Crime Review, and working with HMRC to enforce the extended scope of landfill tax. To date we have referred > 140 suspected illegal sites to HMRC with > 50 resulting in working cases.

Map showing spread of high risk illegal waste sites across England

Design and commence Phase II of Waste Crime Systems Review including trialling new interventions and performance metrics.

Lead Area Director for Enforcement

Ensure appropriate governance of the Additional Waste Crime Funding (AWCF) resource for tackling high risk illegal sites and serious and organised crime.

DD for National Enforcement Service

Actions

Develop, consult on and sign off 'overarching' EA Enforcement Strategy (with waste crime element to follow). Develop and commence E&B Crime in the Waste Sector Programme.

Deputy Director (DD) for Future Regulation and Waste Regulation

380 253 259 255 260 233 250 260

380

242223

254 240219

196 196

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Baseline Q416/17

Q417/18

Q118/19

Q218/19

Q318/19

Q418/19

Q119/20

Objective 2 Protecting and improving the environment2 EA 4 We reduce the number of high risk illegal waste sites

Q1 2019-20 Owners: Executive Directors of Environment and Business and Operations

Ceiling Targets

Q1 Status

Green Green

Deadline(s)

Houses protected

ActionsAction(s) Owner(s)

23 separate projects have better protected 1,652 homes in quarter one of 2019/20 bringing the cumulative total since April 2015 to 195,256. The largest single scheme delivered during quarter one better protected 535 homes in Sheerness, North Kent.

We are forecasting the cumulative delivery at the end of 2019/20 to be over 260,000 against a target of 240,000.

The programme remains on track to better protect 300,000 homes by the end of March 2021.

Q1 ActualCumulativetarget Forecast Year end target

195,256 194,000 240,000

144,210 146,274155,385

193,604 195,256

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

Q1 18/19 Q2 18/19 Q3 18/19 Q4 18/19 Q1 19/20

6 year target to be met by the end of the financial year 2020/21

19/20 programme cumulative target 240,000

Objective 2 Protecting and improving the environment2 EA 5 We reduce the risk from flooding to more households

Q1 2019-20 Owners: Executive Directors of FCRM and Operations

Q1 Status Q1 ActualAmber 97.2% Green

Deadline(s)01/09/2019

01/08/2019

Review of area plans and funding requirements to achieve the required improvements to asset conditionProvision of improved management reporting for below required condition assets.

Deputy Director, OperationsDeputy Director, Flood Risk & Coastal

% of high consequence assets at or above the required target condition The National position for the KPI for Environment Agency high consequence asset condition has dropped since 2018/19 quarter four, from 97.9% to 97.22% in quarter one, against the 2019/20 target of 98%. This reflects the inspection programme being more front end loaded whilst asset repairs tend to be delivered later in the year.

Seven of the areas are currently more than 1% below the National Target. Action is currently underway to agree the 2019/20 area targets that will reach the key corporate target. Work to date suggests that 98% nationally will be a challenge but we are taking the actions required to achieve the target.

Where assets are below the required condition this identifies that work is required, this does not mean that they have structurally failed or that performance in a flood is compromised. If the performance of an asset is reduced, we will take action to ensure that flood risk is effectively managed until the asset is fully repaired or replaced.

No. of high consequence assets passing

ActionsAction(s) Owner(s)

Target Forecast Year end target98.0% 98.0%

97.7% 97.2% 96.9% 96.8% 97.9% 97.2%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

2017/18 Q1 18/19 Q2 18/19 Q3 18/19 Q4 18/19 Q1 19/20

Objective 2 Protecting and improving the environment2 EA 6 We maintain our flood and coastal risk management assets at or above the target condition


31778

9100

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

At or above required target condition(EA)

Below required target condition(EA)

Target

Status Actual Target ForecastGreen 6,548 6,000 Green


30/09/2019

30/09/2019

30/09/2019

Year end target6,000

Continue to support a culture that gives the ability to balance our incident and day job roles by promoting personal resilience, and stop, slow,reset initiatives.

Deputy Director Incident Management & Resilience (SM)

We will ensure any impacts on incident staff resilience from EU Exit negotiations are managed effectively through Stop slow reset planning arrangements and continued support for our people. Whilst we may see an impact on training of new staff, we expect the overall numbers to be maintained as incident response is prioritised.

Deputy Director Incident Management & Resilience (SM)

Number of staff who are trained and ready to respond to incidents We estimate that there are 6,548 trained and capable incident staff ready to respond to incidents which is 109% of the target 6,000.

There has been a small reduction on last quarter's figures, reflecting natural staff turnover and ongoing work to improve accuracy of the data through the establishment of consistent role leads who are better able to track and audit the information recorded.

It is important to note that even though the target of trained staff has been met, this does not necessarily mean that all of these staff would be available to respond or be deployed during peak times.

We continue to maintain a strong pool of around 800 people in training who will contribute to our trained and ready workforce as they become capable and confident in their roles.

Actions

Deputy Director Incident Management & Resilience Deputy Director Incident Management & Resilience (SM)

We will continue to reflect the contribution of people who do not have an incident role but play a critical role in our incident response through their day job.Ensure all incident staff continue to manage their own professional capability through the Incident Management Academy. This will also enable us to accurately capture information for this measure.

Objective 2 Protecting and improving the environment

2 EA 7 We have a first class incident response capabilityNumber of staff who are trained and ready to respond to incidents


6,716 6,568 6,568 6,507 6,698 6,657 6,548

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

Q4 16/17 Q4 17/18 Q1 18/19 Q2 18/19 Q3 18/19 Q4 18/19 Q1 19/20

Targets

Title 0Theme 0Owner 0

Status Actual Target ForecastGreen 97.5% 97%


% decision notices where Local Planning Authorities have accepted our representations

Year end target97%Green

Actions

Performance for quarter one is 97.5% against a target of 97% and therefore green. The 21 applications not determined in line with our advice were a mixture of residential, industrial, commercial and infrastructure development. The majority of such proposals were minor development, for example all the applications determined against our advice would create only 36 residential units. We continue to monitor for trends in decisions against our advice but are currently not seeing any.

The decisions captured in quarter one show that by working with developers and LPAs we have helped to resolve significant environmental issues that could otherwise have led to planning applications for 2,393 new residential units being refused. Data from the Home Builders Federation and the Office of National Statistics shows that on average each new home contributes around £17k to UK economic output. Our positive engagement will ensure that these residential developments will help contribute around £40m to UK economic output, support the Government's pledge to provide much needed housing; whilst at the same time ensuring that the natural environment is both protected and enhanced.

Excellent delivery, on time and to budget and with outstanding value for money

2 EA 8 We successfully influence planning decisions by local planning authoritiesQ1 2019-20 Owners: Executive Directors of Environment and Business and Operations

97.4%

96.7%97.2%

97.8%

97.2% 97.2%97.5%

90%

91%

92%

93%

94%

95%

96%

97%

98%

99%

2016/17 2017/18 Q1 18/19 Q2 18/19 Q3 18/19 Q4 18/19 Q1 19/20

Target

Status Actual (£m) Budget (£m) ForecastGreen £ 273 m £ 286 m Green


31/10/2019Conduct a mid year financial review to be presented to EA Directors in October. Director of Finance

Year end target100%

Cumulative expenditure against YTD budget (%) The measure is used to report on effective management of our money to achieve our outcomes, and is based on the percentage of our full year budget that we have invested. The Environment Agency has a major capital and revenue programme of investment projects and conducts a very detailed planning process in order to ensure appropriate prioritisation of these investments. We are subject to a series of strong financial and governance controls that both protect this investment and provide a logistical challenge in delivering the programme of expenditure. This is considered an appropriate measure, with expenditure being a proxy for delivery of environmental outcomes and this measure is therefore inextricably linked to most of the other scorecard measures.

The Environment Agency has invested 21% of full year budget in the first quarter of 2019/20, which represents a healthy start to the financial year and a very similar proportion invested to that achieved at the same point in 2018/19. Following completion of processes to allocate budgets to business units appropriately reflecting changes in funding and environmental priorities for the new financial year, Finance are supporting the business in evaluating latest forecasts and managing their programmes of work to ensure best use of all available funding.

Cumulative expenditure against YTD budget (£m)

Actions

97% 99% 99% 100% 95%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Q1 18/19 Q2 18/19 Q3 18/19 Q4 18/19 Q1 19/20

Budget

Objective 4 Outstanding organisation

4 EA 9 We manage our money effectively to deliver our outcomes

Q1 2019-20 Owner: Executive Director of Finance£2

72 £5

66 £8

65 £1

,227

£286

£264

£558

£857

£1,2

27

£273

0

200

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600

800

1000

1200

1400

Q1 18/19 Q2 18/19 Q3 18/19 Q4 18/19 Q1 19/20

£ m

illio

n

Planned profiled cumulative expenditure (£m)Actual cumulative expenditure (£m)

Status ActualRed 8,521 7,719 30,876 Green

Status Actual TargetTotal Red 8,521 7,719Operational fuel Green 846 965Travel Amber 2,272 2,239Buildings (inc Labs) Amber 1,559 1,428Pumping Red 3,845 3,088

Due date

Quarter 1 YTD carbon dioxide emissions (tonnes)Ceiling target Year end target Year end forecast

Quarter 1 YTD carbon dioxide emissions by type (tonnes) We are slightly over our profiled target at the end of quarter one. Carbon emissions from our pumping activities have increased by over a third (34%, 975 tonnes more) compared to the same period last year. This is mainly due to the increased operation of Ely-Ouse Transfer Scheme following maintenance work. This alone accounted for 82% of East Anglia’s quarter one carbon total and 28% of our overall quarter one carbon emission.Carbon emissions from our buildings has also increased by 31% (307 tonnes) compared to the same period last year. This is due to billing issue in quarter one last year, which were later included in quarter two but it lowered their quarter one performance in 2018/19. National labs are slightly over their quarter one target (103% of the target). New targets have been set following the removal of the Nottingham site. The reductions were not as big as they could have been due to continued oil use at the Starcross site with the biomass boiler still not preforming as expected. Carbon emissions from our overall travel remain similar (a small increase of 81 tonnes) compared to the same period last year. We continue to look at sustainable travel or no travel options encouraging video conferences and WebEx. Examples include the Bridgwater Way project which encourages sustainable travel. We have Green Driving Roadshow scheduled around areas for next quarter which will promote environmentally friendly vehicles and the travel hierarchy.Despite seeing an increase in the purchase of extra fuel in some areas to ensure all our tanks /bowsers remain full in preparation for EU Exit, our carbon emissions from operational fuel usage have reduced by 19% (193 tonnes) compared to the same period last year.

Tonnes of carbon dioxide produced

Actions Owner(s)Managers to continue their focus on Travel and Subsistence and the application ofthe travel hierarchy to support continued reduction in travel emissions.

Executive Directors, Directors andDeputy Directors

Ongoing

Continue rollout of additional charge points to support increasing volume ofelectric and plug in hybrid vehicles in our fleet.

Deputy Director of Fleet Ongoing

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

2006

/07

(bas

elin

e)20

07/0

820

08/0

920

09/1

020

10/1

120

11/1

220

12/1

320

13/1

420

14/1

520

15/1

620

16/1

720

17/1

820

18/1

9Q

1 19

/20

Q2

19/2

0Q

3 19

/20

Q4

19/2

0

Tonn

es

Actual YTD Target

Objective 4: Outstanding organisation

4 EA 10 We reduce our carbon footprint

2020 Target30,876

Annual DataQuarterly

Data 19-20

Status Actual Target

Red 4.3% 14% Red

Status Actual Target

Red 41% 50% Red

Action(s) Owner(s) Deadline(s)Ongoing OngoingOngoingOngoing

Development programmes and coaching for BAME staffDevelopment programmes and coaching for female staffActive support for Brunel and associated engagement initiatives

BAME staff as % of all staff There were 28 new BAME recruits this quarter out of a total of 312 new starters, which represents 9.0% of all external recruits, well above the mean value of 6.2% for the whole period beginning quarter one 2016/17. This, along with the recent declarations campaign, contributed to a net increase in headcount from 431 in quarter four 2018/19 to 455, increasing the proportion of BAME employees in the Environment Agency to 4.3%; the 2016/20 target remains however at 14%. The strong rise in BAME recruitment this quarter reflects positively on the initiatives underway to move us towards our aspirations. These include promoting more community / university focused outreach work, unconscious bias training for recruiting managers, development programmes and mentoring for BAME staff, reviews of exit interviews, an EDT ‘Race Action Plan’, a refreshed resourcing strategy with all vacancies now placed on the VERCIDA online portal, blind sifting of CVs in recruitment, the "increase the pace on race" events, a more engaged BAME network and more active communication on our ethnic diversity.

The percentage of female Executive Managers (EMs) is 41.4% (36), which is considerably higher than the previous quarter four 2018/19 (34.9%), the headcount rising to 36. This reflects strong success for female applicants in recent recruitment to Deputy Director roles and compares to a target of 50%. The equivalent figure for the UK Civil Service is 44.6%, which has increased from 38.7% in 2016. The percentage of female Grade 7 employees has fallen slightly to 33% (155), resulting directly from promotions to EM level; this changed little over the last six quarters. This compares to a target of 50% and an equivalent Civil Service Grade 6 figure of 44%.

Proportion of Executive Managers (EMs) who are female

Actions

Unconscious bias training for interviews Exec. Director FCRM

a) The proportion of our staff who are from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background (BAME %)

ForecastYear end target14%

b) The proportion of our executive managers who are female %

Forecast Year end target50%

36% 34% 37% 38% 37% 35% 34% 34% 34% 34% 35% 41%

4337

43 45 42 31 31 30 30 29 2936

50%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Q216/17

Q316/17

Q416/17

Q117/18

Q217/18

Q317/18

Q417/18

Q118/19

Q218/19

Q318/19

Q418/19

Q119/20

2020 target = 50%

Objective 4 Outstanding organisation4 EA 11 We have a diverse workforceQ1 2019-20 Owner: Chief Executive

Target

Actual number of Female EMs is shown above each column

3.7% 3.7% 3.8% 4.0% 4.0% 3.8% 3.8% 3.9% 4.0% 4.0% 4.1% 4.3%

383 381 411 425 433 381 385 395 407 412 431 455

14%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

Q216/17

Q316/17

Q416/17

Q117/18

Q217/18

Q317/18

Q417/18

Q118/19

Q218/19

Q318/19

Q418/19

Q119/20

Target

Actual number of BAME staff is shown above each column

2020 target = 14%

Status Ceiling rate ForecastGreen 0.11 0.11 Green


Q4 19/20Implement the Health, Safety and Wellbeing plan for 2019/20Executive Director of Operations

Actions

Year end target0.11

Lost time incident frequency rate Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate (LTIFR) is a universally accepted lagging indicator of health and safety performance. We define lost time incidents as work related injuries resulting in a day or more lost time. By using such a conservative definition, plus a very low ceiling of 0.11 injuries per 100,000 hours worked, this creates a very challenging aspiration for our overall Health Safety and Wellbeing (HSW) performance. The fact that we are usually close to this ceiling indicates that all the steps we have been undertaking to manage and further improve our HSW are delivering results in terms of reduced numbers of injuries to our people. In quarter one our rate has reduced to 0.11 which represents a significant improvement on the previous year. These HSW improvements most recently include improvements in Field Operations teams specifically by refining the training, planning and managing of construction work. We have also reviewed incident response; manual handling training; and emphasis on near miss reporting and active monitoring, amongst many other things. We also continue to improve our processes for learning from LTIs and Safety Critical Incidents (SCIs), including a recently extending the range of incidents that our trained reviewers investigate.

No. of LTIs

Actual

0.180.17

0.16 0.16

0.13 0.130.14

0.13 0.130.12

0.130.11

0.000.020.040.060.080.100.120.140.160.180.20

12 month rolling average Ceiling<=0.11

4

65

4

76

13

67

5

6 65

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Actual Average Upper control limit

Objective 4 Outstanding organisation4 EA 12 We have the lowest possible lost time incident (LTI) frequency rateQ1 2019-20 Owner: Executive Director of Operations

board meeting - gov.uk · 2019-10-21 · board meeting wednesday 9 october 2019 1. apologies emma...

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