Switching Programme design forums

The role of the End-to-End Design Forum was to contribute to the design of the end-to-end switching arrangements, meeting as products are available for consideration. The Forum was constituted of representatives from the industry, consumer groups and other subject matter experts as appropriate and was chaired by Ofgem. 

The principal role of the members of the Forum was to analyse the implications of the new arrangements for the operations of their organisations and to identify issues, which may impede an ability to deliver faster and more reliable switching. In identifying such issues, members were required to assess the implications of specific design decisions against the programme’s design principles.

For further details please refer to the Terms of Reference. 

The role of of the Delivery Forum was to allow industry representatives to scrutinise and advise on elements of the delivery strategy as they were developed. Membership was made up of suppliers, GTs, DNOs, and other parties who have an interest in the arrangements under development. 

The Delivery Forum scrutinised individual elements of the delivery strategy or themes and issues (such as transition or data improvement). This allowed members to nominate experts in those areas to attend the Forum. 

For further details please refer to the Terms of Reference. 

The role of the Commercial Forum was to provide guidance on appropriate approaches and review proposals and was made up of representatives from Ofgem, DCC, the industry, consumer representatives and other subject matter experts.

The objective of the Commercial Workstream was to develop proposals for how the new Central Switching Service (CSS) should be procured by the DCC. The workstream also sought to establish how CSS will be run and governed along with how it should be charged for and funded. The workstream covered price control, DCC business cases, DCC licence modifications and procurement activities (led by DCC). 

For further details please refer to the Terms of Reference. 

The role of the Regulatory Design Forum was to review and discuss proposals and output from the Regulatory Design Team (RDT), before these make their way to a wider industry audience.

It included representatives from industry, consumer groups and other relevant parties on the Forum. The Forum was beneficial as the members had a wider range of industry experience around the regulatory aspects of the industry and could identify potential issues not thought of by the RDT and also recommend solutions to those issues.

For further details please refer to the Terms of Reference.