Environment Agency corporate scorecard summary 2025 to 2026 - quarter 4
Updated 9 July 2026
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-corporate-scorecards-2025-to-2026/environment-agency-corporate-scorecard-summary-2025-to-2026-quarter-4
The corporate scorecard 2025 to 2026 quarter 4 (Q4) starts 1 January 2026 and ends 31 March 2026. The year end is 31 March 2026.
1. Corporate scorecard summary page
The Environment Agency uses a red, amber, green system to see how we are performing at a glance. They are:
- green which means we are performing at or above the target(s) set
- amber which means we are falling slightly short of the target
- red which means there are improvements to be made
This table shows the red, amber, green scores for the 18 measures plus the actual and target figures.
2. Healthy air, land and water supporting nature’s recovery
| Measure title | Units | Q4 actual | Q4 target | 2025 to 2026 target | Q4 status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water company compliance inspections | Number of water company inspections completed | 10,784 | 10,000 | 10,000 | Green |
| Sewage treatment works brought into compliance | Percentage of water quality permitted sites brought back into compliance | 80% | 90% | 90% | Amber |
| Number of farm inspections | Number of farm inspections completed | 4,410 | 4,000 | 4,000 | Green |
| Bathing water monitoring | Percentage of bathing water quality monitoring samples collected and analysed | 100% | 98% | 98% | Green |
| Number of high risk illegal waste sites stopped | Number of high risk illegal waste sites stopped | 224 | 90 | 90 | Green |
3. Sustainable growth
| Measure title | Units | Q4 actual | Q4 target | 2025 to 2026 target | Q4 status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planning applications determined in 21 days | Percentage of planning application consultations and pre-application enquiries responded to within 21 days | 98% | 95% | 95% | Green |
| Percentage of permits issued within timescales (category 1 permits) | Percentage of category 1 permit applications determined within target timescales | 95% | 95% | 95% | Green |
| Percentage of permits issued within timescales (category 2 permits) | Percentage of category 2 permit applications determined within target timescales | 66% | 70% | 70% | Amber |
| Percentage of permits issued within timescales (category 3 permits) | Percentage of category 3 permit applications determined within target timescales | 65% | 70% | 70% | Amber |
| Percentage of permits issued within timescales (category 4 permits) | Percentage of category 4 permit applications determined within target timescales | 55% | 55% | 55% | Green |
4. A nation resilient to climate change
| Measure title | Units | Q4 actual | Q4 target | 2025 to 2026 target | Q4 status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of properties better protected from flooding | Number of properties better protected since April 2024 | 61,898, | 52,000 | 52,000 | Green |
| Innovation actions provided in flood and coastal resilience to adapt to a changing climate | Percentage of FCRM innovation actions on track or completed | 100% | 80% | 80% | Green |
| We maintain our flood and coastal risk management assets at or above the target condition | Percentage of high risk Environment Agency maintained assets at target condition | 93% | 92% | 92% | Green |
| Resilience in our capacity to respond to incidents | Daily status reports for incident cells | Amber | Green | Green Status | Amber |
5. People, culture and ways of working
| Measure title | Units | Q4 actual | Q4 target | 2025 to 2026 target | Q4 status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimised time lost to work related injuries | Lost time incident frequency rate per 100,000 hours | 0.16 | <0.11 | <0.11 | Amber |
| We have a diverse workforce: a) Percentage of staff from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds | Percentage of staff | 7.1% | 7.6% | 7.6% | Amber |
| We have a diverse workforce: b) Percentage of senior staff who are female | Percentage of staff | 46.8% | 50% | 50% | Amber |
6. Sustainability
| Measure title | Units | Q4 actual | Q4 target | 2025 to 2026 target | Q4 status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce our carbon emissions | Tonnes of carbon | 245,223 | <198,916 | <198,916 | Red |