Ensuring excellent service delivery across all of our services is our core focus.
During last month’s edition of ‘Inside RECCo’ we updated you that we had established a Post Implementation Project to implement the Code Managers rectification plans put in place to manage the delivery of a series of functional enhancements across the Code Manager service to improve the user experience.
We are pleased to confirm the first two REC Portal releases were released in October and November as planned. Attention has now turned to developing additional Portal functionality for the December release at the end of the month, including live chat functionality to improve the ease of raising questions to the Code Manager. The REC Code Manager will be updating parties on what else is being delivered via their Weekly REC Round Up bulletins.
The REC Code Manager will be implementing over 90 further requirements to the Portal each month until the end of February.
Alongside changes to the REC Portal, the Code Manager held a successful workshop with REC parties on 3rd November looking to gain feedback on the functional improvements required to the Data Specification in EMAR to improve its usability and ensure it's accessible to all types of users.
As a result of the feedback, the changes required fall into two key areas. The first area is ensuring the EMAR’s Data specification is ‘machine readable’. As part of the changes, the REC Code Manager is developing a full Data Access database to improve parties’ ability to load data changes into their systems.
In the meantime, Access Databases for the November 2021 release and February 2021 pre-release have been made available.
The second area of required change is ensuring the Data Specification is ‘human readable’, meaning it is intuitive and user friendly to all types of users regardless of their technical understanding of the code arrangements.
Fundamental to this is consideration of a new presentation style for Market Messages and associated Data Items which are familiar to users of the previous DTC and SPAA catalogues.
The Code Manager has initially developed design concepts on the enhanced look and feel which it will be testing with stakeholders over current weeks, before implementing the changes in a February 2022 release. Until the changes are implemented, RECCo will be ensuring the Data Transfer Catalogue remains available to industry parties.
Earlier this year Ofgem commissioned the annual Code Administrator Performance Survey 2021. Although the REC did not formally feature in the survey questions, feedback was received by respondents on the setting up of the Retail Energy Code and we wanted to share this feedback with you.
Overall industry parties were optimistic about the REC and were positive towards its aims such as digitalisation, cross code management, and consolidation of the codes:
Other feedback included comments on the launch of the Code Manager service and how it could have been handled differently.
Feedback centred around parties suggesting communications could have focused more on the content of the REC and how to comply with it once in place rather than other aspects of the Code Manager implementation.
We are listening and we are working with the Code Manager and the Enquiry Service Providers to ensure parties understand what the upcoming REC changes mean for their organisation in the implementation of the Switching Programme next year and we will update parties on this over coming months.
In September we issued our first of a series of ‘pulse’ surveys on the newly implemented Code Manager service. The aim of the survey was to understand stakeholders’ initial experiences of our core service and where there should be a focus in service improvements.
The feedback was extremely useful and has been used to improve communications with stakeholders such as the roll out of the Code Manager’s weekly bulletins, as well as prioritising the service enhancements being scheduled to the Portal and EMAR as part of the Post Implementation Project.
So we can continue to assess, measure and improve the delivery of our services, we will be issuing the next ‘pulse’ stakeholder satisfaction survey in December, three months following operational go-live.
Feedback is of key importance to us to make sure our stakeholders feel heard, see improvements, and feel that services meet expectations. In the meantime, please keep raising any feedback with your Operation Account Manager at the REC Code Manager.
