Strategic Delivery Committee (SDC) terms of reference

Purpose

The Strategic Delivery Committee (SDC) supports the Board by providing focused, outcome‑led scrutiny of delivery against NRW’s Well‑being Objectives.

The Committee’s role is to provide strategic assurance and challenge to the Board on whether the Executive is delivering the right priorities and creating the conditions necessary to achieve the Corporate Plan, within the Board’s approved risk appetite.

The Committee undertakes in-depth scrutiny to test delivery confidence, system effectiveness and strategic coherence, and provides advice to the Board on key risks, trade-offs and areas requiring direction. It also plays a role in shaping and testing NRW’s strategic positions in relation to delivery of its Well-being Objectives.

The Committee does not replicate Board-level performance discussions but undertakes the detailed analysis that underpins Board assurance and decision-making

Scope

The Committee is a formal committee of the Board. Its role is to provide scrutiny, challenge and assurance at a strategic level. It does not undertake executive decision-making or operational management.

The Committee operates at a strategic threshold, looking across organisational, regulatory and place‑based delivery through a system‑wide, Wales-wide and cross-organisational, holistic lens. It focuses on whether NRW’s delivery approaches are sufficiently joined‑up, ambitious and credible to achieve outcomes at the necessary pace in the context of the nature, climate and pollution emergencies.

The Committee:

• draws assurance from the Executive Team, Executive Portfolio Boards and the performance management framework;
• does not duplicate the Board’s oversight of the Corporate Plan, the work of the other Boards Committees on specific topics, nor the Executive Team’s responsibility for day‑to‑day management;
• does not undertake operational management

The Committee draws assurance from the Executive Team and Portfolio Boards but does not duplicate or extend their role. It focuses on whether delivery across portfolios is collectively sufficient to achieve organisational outcomes.

The Committee undertakes detailed, forward-looking scrutiny to support Board decision-making and will avoid duplication of Board discussions by focusing on delivery confidence, system effectiveness and underlying performance drivers, rather than repeating routine performance reporting.

Responsibilities

In support of the Board, the Strategic Delivery Committee will:

Performance, outcomes and delivery confidence

• Provide strategic scrutiny of performance and delivery trajectories, focusing on long-term outcomes
• Hold outcome‑focused discussions and deep dives where this will unlock pace, remove barriers or improve system‑level coordination.
• Use Executive assurance to identify where portfolio or programme issues signal wider risks to delivery confidence or outcomes.
• Review strategic indicators reflecting long-term, Wales-wide outcomes;
• Scrutinise multi-year, outcome-focused performance metrics and delivery trajectories;
• Examine lead indicators underpinning delivery against the Well-being Objectives;
• Test the strength of the evidence base used to assess delivery confidence;
• Assess whether current interventions are sufficient to achieve intended outcomes at the required pace

Strategic delivery themes and system outcomes

• Provide strategic oversight and challenge on key cross-organisational delivery themes that are critical to achieving NRW’s Well-being Objectives.
• This includes testing whether strategic approaches, programmes and system interventions are coherent, sufficiently ambitious and aligned to delivering long-term outcomes across Wales.
• The Committee will consider the effectiveness of delivery across areas such as land use, environmental protection, and major organisational priorities, including how these interact to support nature recovery, climate resilience and pollution minimisation.
• It will also support the development and testing of strategic positions by providing challenge on emerging approaches, ensuring alignment with the Corporate Plan, and considering long-term implications, risks and trade-offs.

Regulation, pollution and environmental outcomes

• Provide strategic oversight of regulatory performance, considering long‑term trends, emerging risks and system impacts rather than individual cases.
• Examine whether regulatory approaches are effectively supporting pollution minimisation, nature recovery and climate resilience, and whether changes are needed to improve outcomes or delivery pace.

Place‑focussed and system delivery

• We are developing our organisation to ensure we work in a place focused way. Putting the needs of the environment, community, customers, and stakeholders at the heart of everything we do to deliver multiple benefits that support and benefit the place.
• Our role in this committee will be to scrutinise our delivery to ensure we have worked in a place focused way throughout and challenge where we feel this hasn’t happened

Risk, coherence and escalation

• Test whether the application of risk appetite is constraining necessary ambition, innovation or pace of delivery.
• Advise the Board where systemic risks, trade‑offs or tensions require escalation to protect long‑term outcomes and delivery confidence. This includes testing whether the application of risk appetite appropriately balances ambition, pace and delivery confidence, and identifying trade-offs across Well-being Objectives.