MOSL has provided an update on the work of the independent Open Water Assurance Group set up by Defra to inform policy advice officials provide to the Secretary of State in respect of the opening the non-household retail market for water and sewerage services in 2017.

The group, which met for the first time in March 2016, is intended to provide a route for external scrutiny, challenge and debate from a broad range of stakeholders beyond those directly involved in programme delivery.

The Assurance Group has no formal decision-making powers enabling it to direct other bodies or parties within the Open Water Governance Structure.

In order to ensure that the Assurance Group can be independent and objective, membership has been weighted towards those that do not have any direct responsibility for programme delivery. The Group is being chaired by Richard Macdonald, a non-executive director from the Environment Agency. Other members of the Group include:

• Sarah Hendry, Director, Water and Floods - Defra
• John Reynolds, Chair of Audit Committee - MOSL (Castle Water)
• Aileen Armstrong , Senior Director of Finance & Governance - Ofwat
• Jon Rathjen , Water Industry Team - Scottish Government
• Michael Roberts, Chief Executive - Water UK
• Colin Skellett, Chief Executive- Wessex Water
• Phil Newland, Managing Director - South Staffordshire Water
• Johanna Dow, Chief Executive - Business Stream
• Nicola Smith, Company Director - Clear Business Water
• Alan Lovell, Chair - Consumer Council for Water
• Richard Hudson, Utilities Business Manager - Customer Representative - YPO (Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation)

Key themes for the group to consider include:

1. Offering a view on readiness against each of the programme success criteria;
2. The differences between success both at market opening (what needs to be in place) and as the market develops (what the market will look like and how it will function);
3. Any mechanisms for measuring success or readiness

In terms of responsibilities and deliverables, the Group is advising Defra on any material issues which it believes could impact upon the achievement of an orderly market opening in April 2017 or, or on the operation of the market beyond that, the achievement of each of the programme’s agreed success criteria for the market.

The Assurance Group will formally report its observations to Sarah Hendry, Director of Floods and Water at Defra, at three stages:

• The first in July 2016, to summarise early thinking;
• The second in October 2016, at a date to be determined;
• The third in January 2017, at a date to be determined.

The Assurance Group will look at the balance of benefits vs. risks at market opening and, recognising that no market is perfect on day one, will provide a perspective on putting the right foundations in place for the market in the longer term.

The first Assurance Group meeting took place on 9th March, with a follow up call on 24th March – Aileen Armstrong from Ofwat was unable to attend the meeting and gave apologies.

According to the Minutes of the meeting, Richard Macdonald, the group’s Chair, explained that the group should be an open, honest and solutions-focussed forum with its work conducted transparently and collaboratively between members.

The group noted the programme’s progress to date: that a substantial amount of the legislative and regulatory framework was now in place and the focus was now on MOSL’s work to build the central IT systems and the companies’ own readiness work. They discussed the critical path and “the limited contingency available in the programme”, noting there were still areas where it was felt more detail or visibility was needed.

Key issues covered at the meeting included consideration of the programme’s published success criteria as headlines to guide the group’s work. The minutes say the group had “a broad discussion about the importance of distinguishing between a successful market opening and a successful market beyond that, recognising that the market will not be perfect on day one but will evolve over time. “

Discussing the criteria one by one, the group thought that the word ‘success’ could be unhelpful, and that their judgement against the criteria would be based more on ‘readiness’ and quality of readiness, the minutes say.

Other specific observations included that customer awareness is crucial and should be a key consideration for the group, as should diversity of entry. It was also agreed that future meetings of the group will be extended to allow more time for in-depth discussion and analysis.