October ISG Blog
At our meeting on 7 October we shared feedback from deepdive sessions that our subgroups had held on the topics of unplanned interruption standards; data and digitalisation; value for money and costs; and from observing a Young Innovators’ Council meeting and engineering site visits attended by Ofgem.
We also received NGN’s analysis of their comparative performance based on the first 3 years of GD2 reported to Ofgem. Later this month we hope to see Ofgem’s own analysis of this data to ensure we have a clear understanding of NGN’s track record which underpins its proposed business plan for GD3.
The ISG had reviewed the second draft of the GD2 Business Plan providing a further 150 detailed comments for NGN’s consideration and we shared the key themes with the senior regulatory team at the meeting.
The Chair also provided this feedback to NGN’s designated Board steering group for GD3 the following day, and was able to confirm that the company has responded well in providing the information we expect to see – albeit that time is now against us in terms of influencing the plan any further. Our chief concerns relate to the cost increases that are expected for GD3 to complete the mandatory replacement of pipes and the challenges that face the company in meeting customers’ priorities – chiefly affordability.
Our immediate priorities are to review any outstanding strategy documents and annexes that will accompany the business plan – including some Engineering Justification Papers (EJPs). We have seen a number of these documents but have requested a review of some updated versions including the data and digitalisation papers following forthcoming stakeholder engagement that will support the strategy and action plan.
At our next meeting on 4 November, we will seek responses to our comments on the near final version of the plan -which we expect to see on 25th October. We will also seek to close down the 12 remaining challenges of the 24 that we have raised with NGN since the start of this planning process. Our goal remains to ensure that high standards of service are delivered for customers for a fair cost.