SEPA's current and historical records are mainly paper based. When they are no longer in active use, they are generally kept in offsite storage. SEPA also has increasing numbers of electronic files and is moving towards cutting down on hard copies.

SEPA does not keep all information forever.  Creating and maintaining records takes a significant amount of time and resources, so we try to only keep those records that help us do our job. We have a comprehensive retention and disposal schedule that sets out how long information must be retained. This will vary depending on the kind of information and what role it plays in fulfilling our responsibilities. A copy of the schedule is available.

A number of laws and regulations also specify how long certain records should be kept. We will observe those rules. Once information no longer has to be kept, we will archive or dispose of the information according to our retention and disposal schedule.

Some information will have historical value, whether or not it is of operational value, and we will transfer these records to the National Archives of Scotland.