Switching Programme – Blueprint phase Design Authority Terms of

Switching Programme – Blueprint phase

Design Authority Terms of Reference

This Terms of Reference (“ToR”) sets out the

role, membership and mode of operation of the

Switching Programme Design Authority.

Programme Sponsor

Rachel Fletcher

Senior Responsible

Owner (SRO)

Rob Salter-Church

Programme Manager

Angelita Bradney

Date

6 June 2016

1. Purpose and duties of the Switching Programme Design

Authority

1.1. The agreed objective of the Switching Programme is

“to improve customers' experience of switching, leading to greater engagement in

the retail energy market by designing and implementing a new switching process

that is reliable, fast and cost-effective. In turn this will build consumer confidence

and facilitate competition, delivering better outcomes for consumers.”

1.2. In delivering its contribution to this objective, the Design Authority owns the

design baseline for the Programme.

1.3. The Design Authority is responsible for:

 Assessing proposals from the workgroups;

 Approving components of the design and impact assessment as the Blueprint

Phase of the Programme progresses; and

 Agreeing each stage of the design baseline.

2. Decision-making

2.1. Decisions and recommendations by the Design Authority will be made, in the first

instance, by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached, the Chair may:

 commission further work and defer the decision to the next meeting of the Design

Authority; or

 escalate the decision to the Programme Board.

 Decisions made by the Design Authority during the Blueprint Phase of the

Programme are expected to be either:

o ACCEPT a proposal from a work group with the effect that it will go

forward for inclusion in the blueprint consultation

o REJECT a proposal as it does not meet either a) the objectives of the

Programme b) the Programme Design Principles, c) conflicts with Ofgem

policy. The Design authority will provide reasons for the rejection and

explain where further work is required on the proposal or if there

dependencies elsewhere in Programme that bear upon the proposal being

considered.

2.2. The Design Authority must escalate a decision to the Programme Board when the

decision is deemed by the Design Authority to:

 have a significant impact on the implementation timescales for the Blueprint

Phase – resulting in a delay of two months or more; and/or

 risk jeopardising the achievement of the Programme’s objectives as set out in the

PID; and/or

 result in a significant increase in the net costs of the Programme; and/or

 have a significant impact on other areas of work, for example by introducing

controversial or novel aspects; and/or

 require additional budget or resources that are not available to the Programme.

3. Membership

3.1. The Design Authority will be chaired by Nigel Nash, Policy Integration Manager,

Smart Metering.

3.2. Members are accountable for managing the interdependencies between areas of

work in their directorates and the Switching programme. As appropriate,

members should take responsibility for reporting specific issues of relevance back

to (and/or escalating specific issues within) their own divisions and directorates.

3.3. The table below lists the members of the Design Authority with effect from

February 2016.

Role

Responsibilities

Who

Chair

 Accountable for ensuring that products are delivered to a

high standard

 Chairs the Design Authority

 Ensures that recommendations and decisions are made, and

issues escalated according to the Design Authority’s terms

of reference.

Nigel Nash

Secretariat

 Provides secretariat function to the Design Authority –

organises meetings, sends out meeting papers, and records

and circulates minutes.

Design and

Impact

Assessment

team

Programme

Manager

 Reports on progress and drives forward product delivery to

agreed delivery dates.

 Advises on impacts on Programme deliverables –

particularly time, cost and quality – of issues discussed at

the Design Authority.

Angelita

Bradney

Design and

Impact

Assessment

lead

 Reports on progress of the Design and Impact Assessment

Team/ workgroups

 Sponsors policy papers from workgroups

 Manages the flow of papers into the Design Authority for

consideration and approval.

Andrew

Wallace

Future retail

regulation

(FRR) user

 Accountable for ensuring that the needs of the FRR team

are incorporated into programme planning and delivery

 Formally accepts/rejects the relevant programme

deliverables

 Shares intelligence on FRR-related strategic developments,

including synergies

 Reports to the Senior User (Retail) to ensure that the needs

of the Retail Markets team are being met.

Adhir

Ramdarshan

Smart Metering

User

 Accountable for ensuring that the needs of the Smart

Metering team are incorporated into programme planning

and delivery

 Formally accepts/ rejects the relevant programme

deliverables

 Shares intelligence on smart metering synergies

Robyn

Daniell

 Reports to the SRO to ensure that needs of the Smart

Metering team are being met.

Domestic

consumers user

 Accountable for ensuring that the needs of the Domestic

Consumers team are incorporated into programme planning

and delivery

 Formally accepts/rejects the relevant programme

deliverables

 Shares intelligence on strategic developments, including

identifying synergies

 Reports to Senior User (Sustainable Development)

Meghna

Tewari

Industry Codes

and Licencing

(IC&L) User

 Accountable for ensuring that the needs of the IC&L team

are incorporated into programme planning and delivery

 Formally accepts/rejects the relevant programme

deliverables

 Shares intelligence on IC&L-related developments, occurring

within Ofgem and externally

 Advises on code governance, SCR process and licence

modifications

Lesley

Nugent

Energy

Systems User

 Accountable for ensuring that the needs of the Energy

Systems team are incorporated into programme planning

and delivery

 Formally accepts/rejects the relevant programme

deliverables

 Shares intelligence on Energy Systems-related

developments, occurring within Ofgem and externally

James

Veaney

Networks User

 Accountable for ensuring that the needs of the Netowrks

team are incorporated into programme planning and

delivery

 Formally accepts/rejects the relevant programme

deliverables

 Shares intelligence on Networks-related developments,

occurring within Ofgem and externally

 Reports to the Senior User (Networks)

Mick Watson

Legal Support

 Responsibility for ensuring that programme developments

and programme outcomes remain within the scope of

Ofgem’s powers and minimise the scope for legal challenge

Matthew

Craddock

Senior

Technical

advisor

 Provides technical advice on the products

Dorothy Oti-

Amankwah

3.4. Subject Matter Experts and workgroup leads will attend on an ad-hoc basis to

provide technical input and present policy papers on behalf of the relevant

workgroup.

3.5. Substitutes will be acceptable on an exceptional basis, and with agreement from

the Chair.

4. Working methods

4.1. During the Blueprint Phase, the group will meet approximately every month or as

needed. The meeting frequency will be reviewed by the Chair as appropriate and

may increase towards the end of the Blueprint Phase.

4.2. The role of the Chair is to facilitate discussion across the Group, to enable

challenge and to ensure decisions and recommendations are made, or issues

escalated, in accordance with the group’s terms of reference.

4.3. Members are responsible for driving forward their own contributions to the

Programme and are expected to take action on decisions that are agreed and

assigned by the Group.

4.4. The Switching Programme team will provide the Secretariat for the meetings.

4.5. The Secretariat will aim to provide agendas and papers at least 5 working days in

advance of each meeting and summarise key decisions and actions within 10

working days of each meeting.

4.6. Decisions of the Design Authority will be published on the Ofgem website, with

reasons for the decision, within 10 working days of the relevant meeting.

4.7. The Programme Manager and PMO will review the agenda with the SRO before

each agenda is finalised.

4.8. All papers taken to Design Authority will have a recommendation drafted with

supporting evidence and rationale. This group is primarily intended to be a

decision-making body, rather than to generate ideas or for general discussion,

but it may identify issues for the Design and Impact Assessment Team to review.

4.9. The Ofgem Design and Impact Assessment Team will support the Design

Authority. It will oversee the day-to-day development of the impact assessment

and lead the development of the impact assessment.

4.10. The External Design Advisory Group will provide expert advice and input on issues

before they are taken to the Design Authority.

5. Review

5.1. The Terms of Reference and membership of the Programme Board may be

reviewed at any time to ensure that they remain appropriate for the requirements

of the Programme.