The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has welcomed the Auditor General's report on its performance, published today. The Report records the results of an Audit Scotland examination of the performance measurement system operated by SEPA since it was established in 1996. The Report makes 11 recommendations for improvement. These are listed overleaf with SEPA's responses to the individual points. SEPA Chief Executive Tricia Henton is committed to addressing all the issues raised: "Audit Scotland's independent scrutiny of our operations has proved to be a very useful exercise. It has confirmed that we are moving in the right direction on a number of issues, and it has focused our attention on areas where we need to improve. "As an example of one of the areas where good progress has already been made, over the past year we have been considering how we can move from measuring our success in terms of the number of activities we undertake, to measuring the environmental outcome of those activities. We are well advanced in developing this approach, and aim to have this 'outcome reporting' system embedded in our Corporate Plan for 2002/3. I am pleased that the work we have been doing on this has been confirmed as a priority in the Audit Scotland report. "There are a number of areas where the Report implies that SEPA 'must do better'. In the few months since I became Chief Executive I have become aware of this need for improvement and I am committed to making it happen. Along with the SEPA Board, I am currently restructuring the organisation, focusing on the delivery of fully integrated operational activities across Scotland, building on the success we have achieved so far. We will also be developing our strategic thinking and corporate communications . A crucial part of the process will be improving organisational efficiency and providing good management information systems. The new structure should be in place by April 2001."
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A Measure of Protection - A baseline report on performance measurement in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, a report by the Auditor General for Scotland, prepared by Audit Scotland, will be presented to the Audit Committee of the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 19 December 2000. For further information and copies of the Report, contact the Audit Scotland Press Office on 0131 624 9970/1; Website www.audit-scotland.gov.uk