Environmental Standards Scotland - draft strategic plan

Our vision is that:

Scotland’s communities benefit from a high quality environment and are protected from harm through the consistent application of effective environmental laws, which are recognised internationally as setting high standards.

Our mission statement is that:

We will ensure that Scotland’s environmental laws and standards are complied with, and their effectiveness improved – to achieve Scotland’s ambitions for the environment and climate change.

Our strategic outcomes are; 

• We have taken effective action to ensure public authorities’ compliance with environmental law and to improve the effectiveness of the law;
• We have prioritised and investigated the most important matters of concern and identified the action needed to rectify problems and improve compliance and effectiveness;
• We have engaged in building knowledge on environmental performance, are well informed about, developments in EU and international standards and practice, and have formed effective partnerships with bodies collecting, collating and scrutinising environmental data;
• Our role is widely understood and we are regularly engaged in work to improve compliance and the effectiveness of environmental law and how it is applied.
• We are an effective and efficient organisation

Our Values

Our Principles

1. We will target our efforts and resources where we can add most value – focusing where our contribution is needed most or will make most difference

2. We will seek to resolve issues through agreement wherever possible – having recourse to our formal powers where we judge it is necessary to deliver the outcome expected

3. We will be evidence driven – seeking a wide range of inputs and expertise to inform our work and to support our decisions and advice

4. We will be open and transparent – keeping people informed about the progress of our work and providing opportunities to input to and influence it

5. We will seek opportunities to work in partnership with others – working closely with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that our collective efforts deliver benefits for environmental protection and enhancement