Corporate report

Environment Agency corporate scorecard 2019 to 2020 - Quarter four

Published 10 September 2020

The Environment Agency corporate scorecard shows a high level overview of our performance against our environmental and business aims.

The scorecard is reported every 3 months to executive directors and the board within the Environment Agency. Our Corporate Scorecard enables us to monitor how well we are achieving our stated aims as set out in the Environment Agency Action plan. It is also shared with the Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra), and is published here. Our corporate scorecard measures also contribute towards the wider Defra single departmental plan.

Corporate Scoreard 2019 to 2020 Quarter (Q) 4 starts 1 January 2020 and ends 31 March 2020. The year to date (YTD) is 31 March 2020.

1. Corporate scorecard summary page

We use a red amber green system to see at a glance how we are performing. Green means we are performing at or above the target(s) set, amber means we are falling slightly short of the target and red means there is improvements to be made.

This table shows the red, amber green scores for the 12 measures plus the actual and target figures.

1.1 Protecting and improving the environment

Measure title	Units	Q4 Actual	Q4 Target	Year end target	Q4 Status
The water environment is healthier (Defra)	Kilometres	1,753	2,300	2,300	Amber
We protect people, the environment and wildlife by reducing serious pollution incidents (Defra)	Number of incidents in the last 12 months	443	400	400	Red
We increase biodiversity and encourage an environmental net gain by creating more and better habitats for the benefit of people and wildlife (Defra)	Hectares created	3,147	1,280 Hectares	1,280 Hectares	Green
We reduce the number of high risk illegal waste sites (Defra)	Number of high waste sites	233	196	196	Red
We reduce the risk of flooding for more households (Defra)	Number of households better protected	242,343	240,000	240,000	Green
We maintain our flood and costal risk management assets at or above the target condition (Defra)	% of high risk assets at target condition	96.1%	98%	98%	Red
We have a first class incident response capability - number of staff trained and ready to respond to incidents (Defra)	Number of people	6,541	6,000	6,000	Green
We successfully influence planning decisions by local authorities	% decision notices successfully influenced	Q3 96.4%	Q3 97.0%	97.0%	Q3 Amber

1.2 Outstanding organisation

Measure title	Units	Q4 YTD actual	Q4 YTD target	Year end target	Q4 YTD status
We manage our money efficiently	% spend on budget	100%	100%	100%	Green
We reduce our carbon footprint	Tonnes of carbon dioxide	31,217	30,876	30,876	Amber
We have a diverse workforce: a) The proportion of our staff are from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)	% of workforce	4.4%	14%	14%	Red
We have a diverse workforce: b) The proportion of our executive managers who are female	% of executive manager workforce	43%	50%	50%	Red
We have the lowest possible lost time incident (LTI) frequency rate	LTI frequency rate per 100,000 hours	0.13	0.11	0.11	Red

Key: (DEFRA) this measure is reported to Defra on the Defra scorecard

2. The water environment is healthier

Q4 Status	Q4 actual (km)	Q4 target	Year end Forecast	Year end target (km)
Amber	1,753	2,300	Amber	2,300

The effect of the floods and COVID-19 in quarter 4 has meant that not all Environment Agency areas have been able to report km enhanced this quarter. We can report an additional 178 km based on 9 areas, taking the confirmed total this financial year (2019/20) to 1,753 km. At quarter 3 we were forecasting to achieve amber due to the earlier flooding incidents, therefore we were predicting to achieve over 80% of the ambitious full-year target. The cumulative total km enhanced has risen to 6,742 km since we started reporting in 2016.

Much of the 178 km of enhancements reported have come from Environment Agency regulatory work. This includes work undertaking point and diffuse sources of pollution by driving improvements to infrastructure, in urban and rural communities. We have worked with partners to address misconnections in Hertfordshire, and also in Cumbria and Lancashire. We have also carried out works to Settle fish pass, in North Yorkshire, enhancing around 40 km for fish.

In addition to the 178 km of enhanced water bodies in quarter four, we have protected 130 km of water bodies from deterioration. In Yorkshire we have protected over 30 km of water body by treating invasive non-native species, such as Japanese knotweed and Giant Hogweed. In Lincolnshire and in Northamptonshire we have treated and controlled Pennywort to protect 53 km of tributaries of the River Witham.

Kilometres of rivers, lakes and coastal waters enhanced this year

Quarter	Actual km	Target km
Q1 2018/19	1,044	1,014
Q2 2018/19	1,213	1,345
Q3 2018/19	1,426	1,602
Q4 2018/19	1,719	2,000
Q1 2019/20	951	970
Q2 2019/20	1,489	1,816
Q3 2019/20	1,575	1,972
Q4 2019/20	1,753	2,300

Insight cumulative totals

Quarter	Actual km	Target km
Q1 2018/19	4,314	3,745
Q2 2018/19	4,483	4,076
Q3 2018/19	4,696	4,333
Q4 2018/19	4,989	4,731
Q1 2019/20	5,939	5,959
Q2 2019/20	6,479	6,805
Q3 2019/20	6,565	6,961
Q4 2019/20	6,742	7,289

Actions

Action(s)	Owner(s)	Deadline(s)
Area leads who have not captured figures in quarter four to carry them forward to 2020/21.	Area reporting leads	24/06/2020

3. We protect people, the environment and wildlife by reducing serious pollution incidents

Q4 Status	Q4 actual (+10%)	Actual minus Natural Cause	Ceiling target	Year end forecast	Year end target
Red	443 (487)	411	400	Amber	400

Performance - no. of category 1 and 2 pollution incidents

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.

Quarter	Cat 1	Cat 2	+10%	Q Total actual cat 1 and 2 shown	Target
2013/14 Q4	60	636	N/A	696	436
2014/15 Q4	56	546	N/A	602	631
2015/16 Q4	66	441	N/A	507	631
2016/17 Q4	54	441	N/A	495	553
2017/18 Q4	54	376	N/A	430	496
2018/19 Q2	85	454	N/A	539	400
2018/19 Q3	83	450	N/A	533	400
2018/19 Q4	76	442	N/A	518	400
2019/20 Q1	66	423	N/A	489	400
2019/20 Q2	44	346	N/A	390	400
2019/20 Q3	42	370	N/A	412	400
2019/20 Q4	45	398	44	443	400

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 significant seasonal variations, especially as our weather patterns become more extreme.

Illegal Waste main contributors

Quarter	Illegal waste site	Burning of waste	Unauthorised waste management activity	Fly-tipping	Other
2018 Oct - Dec	13	5	2	2	0
2019 Jan - Mar	13	0	2	1	2
2019 Apr - Jun	11	1	2	4	0
2019 Jul - Sep	3	1	1	3	1
2019 Oct - Dec	10	0	1	3	0
2020 Jan - Mar	5	0	2	2	0

Category 1 and 2 incidents from illegal waste management

Quarter	Total
2015 Jul - Sep	13
2015 Oct - Dec	14
2016 Jan - Mar	14
2016 Apr - Jun	26
2016 Jul - Sep	30
2016 Oct - Dec	22
2017 Jan - Mar	22
2017 Apr - Jun	11
2017 Jul - Sep	8
2017 Oct - Dec	10
2018 Jan - Mar	17
2018 Apr - Jun	20
2018 Jul - Sep	22
2018 Oct - Dec	22
2019 Jan - Mar	18
2019 Apr - Jun	18
2019 Jul - Sep	9
2019 Oct - Dec	14
2020 Jan - Mar	9

Water Company Main Contributors

Quarter	Water distribution system	Sewage treatment works	Foul sewer	Rising Main	Pumping station	Surface water outfall
2018 Oct - Dec	3	1	4	4	1	0
2019 Jan - Mar	1	1	4	0	2	0
2019 Apr - Jun	3	4	5	0	4	2
2019 Jul - Sep	1	4	4	2	4	1
2019 Oct - Dec	0	4	1	1	3	0
2020 Jan - Mar	0	1	0	1	0	0

Category 1 and 2 incidents from the water company sector

Quarter	Total
2015 Jul - Sep	26
2015 Oct - Dec	11
2016 Jan - Mar	9
2016 Apr - Jun	13
2016 Jul - Sep	30
2016 Oct - Dec	14
2017 Jan - Mar	5
2017 Apr - Jun	20
2017 Jul - Sep	15
2017 Oct - Dec	17
2018 Jan - Mar	6
2018 Apr - Jun	15
2018 Jul - Sep	25
2018 Oct - Dec	15
2019 Jan - Mar	8
2019 Apr - Jun	19
2019 Jul - Sep	18
2019 Oct - Dec	10
2020 Jan - Mar	2

Agriculture main contributors

Quarter	Dairy and livestock	Intensive farming	Arable and horticulture	Other / unspecified agriculture
2017 Oct - Dec	5	7	1	0
2019 Jan - Mar	6	3	0	0
2019 Apr - Jun	2	1	4	0
2019 Jul - Sep	4	0	0	1
2019 Oct - Dec	14	0	1	0
2020 Jan - Mar	9	0	4	2

Category 1 and 2 incidents from agriculture

Quarter	Total
2015 Jul - Sep	27
2015 Oct - Dec	17
2016 Jan - Mar	33
2016 Apr - Jun	13
2016 Jul - Sep	16
2016 Oct - Dec	8
2017 Jan - Mar	19
2017 Apr - Jun	9
2017 Jul - Sep	15
2017 Oct - Dec	25
2018 Jan - Mar	26
2018 Apr - Jun	23
2018 Jul - Sep	15
2018 Oct - Dec	13
2019 Jan - Mar	9
2019 Apr - Jun	12
2019 Jul - Sep	5
2019 Oct - Dec	15
2020 Jan - Mar	15

Non regulated industry sectors main contributors

Quarter	Natural source	Service sector	Domestic and residential	Other source	Retail sector
2019 Jul - Sep	16	8	5	1	1
2019 Oct - Dec	0	10	0	4	0
2020 Jan - Mar	5	3	3	1	4

Category 1 and 2 incidents from non regulated industry sectors

Quarter	Total
2015 Jul - Sep	39
2015 Oct - Dec	19
2016 Jan - Mar	19
2016 Apr - Jun	25
2016 Jul - Sep	30
2016 Oct - Dec	19
2017 Jan - Mar	21
2017 Apr - Jun	26
2017 Jul - Sep	23
2017 Oct - Dec	13
2018 Jan - Mar	24
2018 Apr - Jun	26
2018 Jul - Sep	66
2018 Oct - Dec	21
2019 Jan - Mar	17
2019 Apr - Jun	22
2019 Jul - Sep	21
2019 Oct - Dec	16
2020 Jan - Mar	19

Which sectors make up the most number of category 1 and 2 pollution incidents over the last 12 months

Sector	Number of incidents	Cumulative %
Agriculture	47	100%
Other non regulated industry sectors	97	47%
Other regulated industry sectors	112	25%
Not identified	64	77%
Water company	55	89%
Illegal waste management	68	63%

Commentary

The usual performance commentary has not been supplied due to COVID-19. Data for the last quarter will be lower than final numbers as records will not have been processed due to current circumstances. Normally it may be 75% to 80% complete and the rolling year total may increase by up to 10%. This is due to records being updated when information becomes available. Records will also be subject to change following further information and quality assurance. We have produced this report to provide the best picture of end of year corporate scorecard performance given current circumstances.

Based on the information provided, overall incidents have reduced by around 77 since 2018/19 year end (31 March 2019).

Actions

No actions.

4. We increase biodiversity and promote an environmental net gain by creating more and better habitats for the benefit of people and wildlife.

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Q4 target	Forecast	Year end target
Green	3,147	1,280	Green	1,280 Hectares (ha)

Quarter	Hectares created	Target
2014/15	1,869	700
2015/16	575	300
2016/17	424	400
2017/18	619	530
2018/19	460	410
2019/20	3,147	1,280

Commentary

Overall we far exceeded expectations. We created 817 hectare (ha) of habitat in quarter 4 against a target of 753 ha. This was because legal issues affecting some projects were resolved sooner than expected.

The continuing role of our partners in over 50% of these projects was critical. Habitat restoration was greatly exceeded because our partners were able to do significantly more blanket bog restoration than expected. In addition to the habitat created, we restored 2,330 ha against the other target of 530 ha. 2,148 ha of this total was blanket bog.

5. We reduce the number of high risk illegal waste sites

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Ceiling target	Forecast	Year end target
Red	233	196	Red	196

Commentary

In quarter four the number of total active sites has reduced by 51 and the total high risk active sites has reduced by 22 nationally. At 536, for all sites, we have the lowest number of active sites since quarter three in 2016/17 and the total number of active high risk sites is the lowest it has been since quarter four in 2013/14.

The continued downward trend across most areas reflects the continued benefits of those additional staff funded by the £30 million for waste crime. However in quarter 4 other pressures, especially the significantly wet weather, affected our ability to direct enough resource to this work.

It is too soon to understand the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the latter part of quarter four figures. This will become more apparent when the figures are available for quarter one 2020/21.

Quarter	Total	Ceiling target
Baseline	380	380
Q4 17/18	259	223
Q1 18/19	255	254
Q2 18/09	260	240
Q3 18/09	233	219
Q4 18/19	250	196
Q1 19/20	260	196
Q2 19/20	264	196
Q3 19/20	255	196
Q4 19/20	233	196

Actions

Action(s)	Owner(s)	Deadline(s)
Tackling illegal waste remains a corporate priority during the current pandemic.

6. We reduce the risk from flooding to more households

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Cumulative target	Forecast	Year end target
Green	242,343	240,000	Green	240,000

Commentary

117 separate projects have better protected 38,574 homes in quarter four of 2019/20 bringing the cumulative total since April 2015 to 242,343.

The scheme that better protected the most homes during quarter 4 was Humber: Hull Frontage in East Yorkshire, which better protected 14,750 homes from sea flooding. This project is also forecast to better protect a further 11,344 homes in 2020/21.

We have exceeded the cumulative delivery target of 240,000. At mid-March 2020 we remained firmly on track to meet the 300,000 homes better protected target. We consider the target is still achievable, however, the coronavirus pandemic has introduced considerable uncertainty into the risk profile.

Houses protected

2019/20 programme cumulative target = (240,000)

Quarter	Total
Q1 2018/19	144,210
Q2 2018/19	146,274
Q3 2018/19	155,385
Q4 2018/19	193,604
Q1 2019/20	195,255
Q2 2019/20	200,425
Q3 2019/20	203,769
Q4 2019/20	242,343

7. We maintain our flood and coastal risk management assets at or above the target condition

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Target	Green	Year end target
Red	96.1%	98%	Red	98%

Commentary

The current asset condition results from increased asset damage during multiple significant flood events in November 2019 and February 2020. The Government has provided £120 million of additional funding for asset repairs that are now in progress or planned in 2020/21. The position has been further impacted during quarter 4 by COVID-19 restrictions on the delivery of inspection, repair and maintenance work.

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.

Quarter	% Actual (Rounded)	% Target
2017/18	97.7%	97.5%
Q1 18/19	97.2%	97.5%
Q2 18/19	96.9%	97.5%
Q3 18/19	96.8%	97.5%
Q4 18/19	97.9%	97.5%
Q1 19/20	97.2%	97.5%
Q2 19/20	96.9%	97.5%
Q3 19/20	96.2%	98%
Q4 19/20	96.1%	98%

No. of high consequence assets passing

At or above required target condition (EA)	Below required target condition (EA)
31,460	1,270

Actions

Action(s)
Repairing and maintaining flood defence assets remain a corporate priority during the current pandemic.

8. We have a first class incident response capability - number of staff who are trained and ready to respond to incidents

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Q4 target	Forecast	Year end target
Green	6,541	6,000	Green	6,000

We estimate that there are 6,541 trained and capable incident staff ready to respond to incidents. This is 109% of the 6,000 target.

The number of incident staff remains steady since last quarter’s figures, reflecting a busy period of response and reduced time for recruitment and training.

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 to 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. We also have an additional 200 staff from Defra who support communications during incidents.

Number of staff who are trained and ready to respond to incidents

Quarter	Number
2017 Jan - Mar	6,716
2018 Jan - Mar	6,568
2018 Apr - Jun	6,568
2018 Jul - Sep	6,507
2018 Oct - Dec	6,698
2019 Jan - Mar	6,657
2019 Apr - Jun	6,548
2019 Jul - Sep	6,460
2019 Oct - Dec	6,501
2020 Jan - Mar	6,541

Actions

Action(s)	Owner(s)	Deadline(s)
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.	Deputy Director Incident Management and Resilience	30/06/2020
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.	Deputy Director Incident Management and Resilience	30/06/2020
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 and Resilience	30/06/2020
We will ensure any impacts on incident staff resilience from COVID-19 are managed effectively through Stop slow reset planning arrangements and continued support for our people. Whilst we may see an affect on training of new staff, we expect the overall numbers to be maintained as incident response is prioritised.	Deputy Director Incident Management and Resilience	30/06/2020

9. We successfully influence planning decisions by local planning authorities

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Q4 target	Year end target
Amber	96.4%	97%	97%

Due to the COVID pandemic, we have not been able to have the planning data quality assured for quarter 4, therefore we are using quarter 3 data and commentary for this scorecard measure.

Performance for quarter 3 was 96.4% against a target of 97% and therefore amber. There were 26 applications not determined in line with our advice, 5 of which were for ‘major’ development. The majority of objections made related to flood risk issues, with seven instances of local planning authorities (LPAs) not insisting on flood risk assessments to be undertaken when required, this is also against government planning policy. LPAs have also overruled our advice in relation to land contamination and pollution control.

More positively, decisions captured in quarter 3 showed how working with developers and LPAs helped resolve significant environmental issues that could otherwise have led to planning applications for 1,860 new residential units being refused. These residential developments will help contribute around £31 million to UK economic output.

Quarter	Total
2016/17	97.4%
2017/18	96.7%
Q1 2018/19	97.2%
Q2 2018/19	97.8%
Q3 2018/19	97.2%
Q4 2018/19	97.2%
Q1 2019/20	97.5%
Q2 2019/20	96.5%
Q3 2019/20	96.3%
Q4 2019/20	96.3%

Actions

Action(s)	Owner(s)	Deadline(s)
National Office Sustainable Places are working with Area colleagues to investigate why LPAs are not making decisions in line with our advice. There are currently no discernible trends or common issues, except for one relating to residual flood risk for some developments protected by the Thames Barrier. This is being discussed with the local Area and we will ensure that any lessons learned are shared more widely.	Relevant Area Environment, Planning and Engagement Managers	31/03/2020

10. We manage our money effectively to deliver our outcomes

Q4 Status	Q4 actual (£million)	Q4 budget (£million)	Forecast	Year end target
Green	£1,303	£1,305	Green	100%

We invested just over £1.3 billion on the environment in 2019/20, with expenditure closely aligned with available funding from grant in aid and charges. This is an impressive achievement given the challenge presented by the severe flooding events experienced widely across the country between November and February and the impacts on the business arising from COVID-19 in recent months. Work on final adjustments to the accounts and production of the annual report will continue, with sign off and laying before parliament currently expected in quarter 2 of 2020-21.

Cumulative expenditure against YTD budget (%)

Quarter	Total
Q1 18/19	97%
Q2 18/19	99%
Q3 18/19	99%
Q4 18/19	100%
Q1 19/20	95%
Q2 19/20	93%
Q3 19/20	96%
Q4 19/20	100%

Cumulative expenditure against YTD budget (£million)

Quarter	Planned profiled cumulative expenditure (£million)	Actual cumulative expenditure (£million)
Q1 18/19	£272	£264
Q2 18/19	£566	£558
Q3 18/19	£865	£857
Q4 18/19	£1,227	£1,227
Q1 19/20	£286	£273
Q2 19/20	£618	£574
Q3 19/20	£926	£892
Q4 19/20	£1,305	£1,303

Actions

Action(s)	Owner(s)	Deadline(s)
Annual Report and Accounts for 2019/20 to be prepared for audit by National Audit Office, sign off by Directors and laying before Parliament.		Q2 20/21

11. We reduce our carbon footprint

Quarter 4 year to date carbon dioxide emissions (tonnes)

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Ceiling target	Year end target
Amber	31,217	30,876	30,876

11.1 Quarter 4 year to date carbon dioxide emissions by type (tonnes)

Type	Status	Actual	Target
Total	Green	31,217	30,876
Operational fuel	Green	4,104	3,860
Travel	Green	8,915	8,954
Buildings (inc labs)	Green	4,883	5,712
Pumping	Green	13,316	12,350

Business travel emissions were very similar to the year before, although we started to see a significant reduction due to COVID-19. As we bring more electric vehicles onto the fleet and embrace new found ways of working during the COVID response we will see significant reductions in business travel in 2020-21.

We saw a slight reduction (5%) in emissions from our buildings, in line with improvement in the greening of the electricity grid – energy usage was consistent with the previous year.

Our National labs are well below their target for this year. The closure of the Nottingham site has had the biggest effect in reducing the National Lab Service carbon emissions, supported by continual management focus on energy use.

The combined effect of this performance is that we are slightly over (101%) our stretched target for this year. However, because the target was a stretch one, we have achieved our e:Mission five year target of 45% with a 47% reduction in our carbon dioxide emissions from our baseline.

Tonnes of carbon dioxide produced

2020 target is 30,876 tonnes

Quarter	Total
2014/15	35,635
2015/16	38,460
2016/17	34,470
2017/18	32,450
2018/19	30,930
Q1 19/20	8,529
Q2 19/20	14,019
Q3 19/20	22,297
Q4 19/20	31,217

Actions

Action(s)	Owner(s)	Deadline(s)
Net zero carbon planning work.	Executive Directors, Directors and Deputy Directors	Ongoing

12. We have a diverse workforce

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

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Target	Forecast	Year end target
Red	4.4%	14%	Red	14%

In quarter 4 there was a slight increase in the proportion of BAME employees in the Environment Agency to 4.4%. Since the Environment Agency Executive Directors Team approved investment in 2019/20 for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and network resilience, development has been positive. BAME representation has increased by 1.15% over 12 years with nearly a quarter of this over the last 12 months. Our target remains 14%.

Quarter 4 saw 13 new BAME recruits out of 234 new starters. This represents 5.6% of all external recruits. There was a net increase in overall BAME headcount from 469 in quarter 3 2019/20 to 477. In quarter 4 10 BAME employees left out of 140 leavers. This year we are prioritising a system for exit interviews to analyse intelligence to understand and improve retention.

BAME staff as % of all staff

2020 target = 14%

Quarter	Total
Q2 2016/17	3.7%
Q3 2016/17	3.7%
Q4 2016/17	3.8%
Q1 2017/18	4.0%
Q2 2017/18	4.0%
Q3 2017/18	3.8%
Q4 2017/18	3.8%
Q1 2018/19	3.9%
Q2 2018/19	4.0%
Q3 2018/19	4.0%
Q4 2018/19	4.1%
Q1 2019/20	4.3%
Q2 2019/20	4.3%
Q3 2019/20	4.3%
Q4 2019/20	4.4%

The proportion of our executive managers who are female %

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Target	Forecast	Year end target
Red	43%	50%	Red	50%

The percentage of female Executive Managers (EMs) is 42.7% (38), slightly more than the 41.3% at quarter 3, although the headcount remained at 38 out of a total EM headcount of 89. The percentage of female Grade 7 employees has remained at 33% (167); the percentage has changed little over the last 6 quarters. This compares to a target of 50%.

We are developing a new EDI toolkit and reviewing our university focused outreach work. We have developed more inclusive recruitment with diverse members of staff supporting assessments. For 2020/21 we are prioritising development programmes, including mentoring and sponsorship for BAME employees, reviews of exit interviews, a refreshed EDI Delivery Plan with specific actions for race and gender, a refreshed resourcing strategy, the annual BAME conference, a refreshed Network resilience plan and more active communication to address EDI in the Environment Agency.

Proportion of Executive Managers (EMs) who are female

2020 target = 50%

Quarter	Total
Q2 2016/17	36%
Q3 2016/17	34%
Q4 2016/17	37%
Q1 2017/18	38%
Q2 2017/18	37%
Q3 2017/18	35%
Q4 2017/18	34%
Q1 2018/19	34%
Q2 2018/19	34%
Q3 2018/19	34%
Q4 2018/19	35%
Q1 2019/20	41%
Q2 2019/20	41%
Q3 2019/20	41%
Q4 2019/20	43%

Actions

Action(s)	Owner(s)	Deadline(s)
Unconscious bias training for interview	Executive Director
Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM)		Ongoing
Development programmes and coaching for BAME staff	Legal Services	Ongoing
Development programmes and coaching for female staff	Legal Services	Ongoing
Active support for Brunel and associated engagement initiatives	All Executive Directors	Ongoing

13. We have the lowest possible lost time incident (LTI) frequency rate

Q4 Status	Q4 actual	Ceiling rate	Forecast	Year end target
Red	0.13	0.11	Green	0.11

We define lost time incidents as work related injuries resulting in a day or more lost time. Using such a conservative definition, plus a very low ceiling of 0.11 injuries per 100,000 hours worked, creates a very challenging aspiration for our Health Safety and Wellbeing (HSW) performance. The fact that we are usually close to this ceiling and we ended quarter 3 below it, 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 significant injuries to our people.

Whilst slightly above target in quarter 4, most activities remained relatively normal despite the lockdown in late March. From this we can take reasonable confidence that our strong HSW culture has continued to bring sustained good performance without us having to introduce any significant initiatives.

Lost time incident frequency rate

12 month rolling average

Quarter	Number
July 2018	0.18
August 2018	0.17
September 2018	0.16
October 2018	0.16
November 2018	0.13
December 2018	0.13
January 2019	0.14
February 2019	0.13
March 2019	0.13
April 2019	0.12
May 2019	0.13
June 2019	0.11
July 2019	0.11
August 2019	0.10
September 2019	0.11
October 2019	0.09
November 2019	0.09
December 2019	0.09
January 2020	0.13
February 2020	0.13
March 2020	0.13

Number of LTIs

Quarter	Number
Q1 2016/17	4
Q2 2016/17	6
Q3 2016/17	5
Q4 2016/17	4
Q1 2017/18	7
Q2 2017/18	6
Q3 2017/18	13
Q4 2017/18	6
Q1 2018/19	6
Q2 2018/19	5
Q3 2018/19	6
Q4 2018/19	6
Q1 2019/20	5
Q2 2019/20	5
Q3 2019/20	7
Q4 2019/20	3

Actions

Action(s)	Owner(s)	Deadline(s)
Implement the Health, Safety and Wellbeing plan for 2019/20	Executive Director of Operations	Q4 19/20