We want to gain knowledge and experience from a wide range of industry parties and other experts to gain a comprehensive picture of SONI’s performance.
A key aspect of this is the Evaluative Performance Framework (EPF) for SONI. We have established a panel to help us evaluate SONI’s performance.
As part of its evaluation, we and the EPF panel would like to hear any stakeholder feedback on SONI’s 2021/22 Forward Plan. To help provide feedback, stakeholders may find it useful to refer to our published regulatory guidance which sets out how the panel will assess SONI’s Forward plan and make recommendations to us.[1]
We would appreciate your feedback on SONI’s published Forward Plan by 3 May 2022, and would prefer written feedback. Written feedback should be sent to Ciaran MacCann (ciaran.maccann@uregni.gov.uk)
We plan to publish the written feedback we receive, along with our own feedback, and share it with the panel as part of the process (unless otherwise requested).
Your response may be made public by the Utility Regulator. If you do not want all or part of your response or name made public, please state this clearly in the response by marking your response as ‘CONFIDENTIAL’. If you want other information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this, it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA)). As stated in the GDPR Privacy Statement for consumers and stakeholders, any personal data contained within your response will be deleted once the matter being consulted on has been concluded though the substance of the response may be retained
Stakeholder meeting
As part of our engagement with stakeholders we plan to then host a stakeholder meeting in the middle of May 2022, with EPF panel members also in attendance. This event will provide SONI with an opportunity to share its own evidence and views on its Forward Plan. It will also provide stakeholders with the opportunity to raise questions and provide direct feedback to SONI.
The panel will then meet to make its final assessment of SONI’s performance using the criteria set out in our regulatory guidance. A report will subsequently be published detailing the panel’s assessment and recommendation for UR.
Our decision will be made by end of June 2022.
We will provide further details of the stakeholder event in due course – including invites and sign up. If you would like to register your early interest, please let us know by emailing: ciaran.maccann@uregni.gov.uk.
[1] We are seeking your feedback in relation to the forward plan aspect of the process: see section 4. You may also find it helpful to read section 2 which provides an overview of what we are asking from SONI and why and also refer to the roles on page 47 and 48 as these may be relevant to an area related to your feedback.