Class 1: About SEPA
Here you will find information about SEPA, who we are, where to find us, how to contact us, how we are managed and our external relations.
General information about SEPA
We are currently working flexibly, requests to access our workspaces are by appointment only. Please contact us to make an appointment.
Organisational structure, roles and responsibilities of senior officers are available by request.
Our service charter is available to view at how we work.
Our contact details are widely available across the SEPA website for customer care and complaints including on our Contact us page, How we work page and Complaints handling procedure page.
More information on our publication scheme, charging policy and hot to request information from SEPA is available on our Guide to information page. This includes charging information for requests under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Constitution
Legal framework for the authority including constitution, articles of association or charter:
- Schedule 6 of the Environment Act 1995 established SEPA as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) accountable to Scottish Ministers.
- The broad framework within which SEPA operates is set out in the framework document which was published by the Scottish Government in December 2014. This also includes the framework of controls on financial, staffing and related matters for SEPA.
How the authority is run
Information on our Agency Board, Audit Committees and Corporate Management Team can be viewed at Who we are. This includes names of, responsibilities of and (work-related) biographical details of the people who make strategic and operational decisions about the performance of function and/or delivery of services by the authority. Declaration of interest for each board member can be found at the end of their biographical entry.
Corporate planning
Our Corporate plan is published annually, the latest version of this document alongside our Annual operating plan is available on Our performance page.
Our Approach to Regulation sets out focus and targets out resources. Any updated documents will be available on Our performance page.
Corporate policies are available on our Policies page and Equality and human rights page.
SEPA's Corporate Planning Framework is documented in the Business Process BP-006 Strategic Planning. Please contact us to request this information.
External relations
SEPA's Chairman is personally responsible to Scottish Ministers. Further details and reporting relationships are laid out in the SEPA framework document.
Audits are carried out to assess the level of compliance of SEPA systems to statutory business requirements, to external standards and to our internal procedures. These are carried our using a combination of internal and external audits. Contact our Access to information team for further information.
No information held on subsidiary companies (wholly and part owned) and other significant financial interests.
SEPA works closely in conjunction with some external organisations when carrying out its duties. Therefore, SEPA has entered into several Memoranda of Understandings, where roles and responsibilities require clarification in specific areas of co-operation.