Ofgem modified the standard conditions of all gas and electricity suppliers requiring their accession to the REC. Those licence conditions, which came into effect 1 February 2019 also provide the REC objectives, as follows:
TO ENSURE THE REC OPERATES AND EVOLVES IN A MANNER THAT FACILITATES THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ITS MISSION STATEMENT
TO ENSURE CUSTOMERS’ INTERESTS AND DATA ARE PROTECTED IN THE OPERATION OF THE REC; AND
TO DRIVE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS AND EFFICIENCIES IN THE OPERATION OF THE REC AND THE CENTRAL SYSTEMS AND COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURES IT GOVERNS
As with other industry codes, these objectives will form the initial criteria for Ofgem to determine whether to accept any REC change proposal submitted to it for a decision. However, in keeping with the aim of ensuring that REC has an agile and proportionate change management, decision making over much of the REC documentation will be delegated to the relevant responsible committee. In some cases this will be a group with dedicated subject matter expertise; in others it will be the REC Change Panel.
Following Ofgem’s decision to give effect to REC v1.1 and with the support of the RECCo nominations committee, we will appoint a Change Panel. In Q1 we will set out the process and timetable by which we expect to appoint the Change Panel members, including details of any election process and/or recruitment. We aim to appoint the Change Panel in advance of RCC implementation in order that its members can familiarise themselves with the REC change management procedures and all relevant material, allowing them to hit the ground running on 1 September. In particular, we anticipate that there may be a number of change proposals to be carried over into the REC, as a result of the effective change freeze to the SPAA and MRA.
Cross-code working
Although the development of the REC will go some way towards consolidating the industry codes, there will continue to be areas where solution development must extend beyond the retail arrangements and into the jurisdiction of other codes. We will work with other code bodies and systems providers in order to establish effective cross-code arrangements, facilitating collaborative working on matters such as holistic Impact Assessments and identifying consequential changes that may be required to give full effect to solutions. Where necessary, those external bodies will be able to raise changes directly to the REC and we anticipate the REC Code Manager being given reciprocal right to raise changes to other codes as part of the Retail Code Consolidation SCR.
We will pursue the early implementation of the Change Management procedures, including the establishment of the Cross-Code Steering Group, ahead of REC v2.0 taking effect September 2021. In the meantime, we will continue to work with the other code bodies and service providers on an informal basis and further develop effective working relationships.