On 11 January, MOSL published its 2023-26 Business Plan for member consultation.
The plan sets out how MOSL will deliver high-quality and reliable core services, as well as a suite of improvement programmes designed to resolve frictions and drive value in the market.
The plan is cost-conscious, balancing the need to keep costs as low as possible whilst ensuring that MOSL continues to deliver its multi-year improvement programmes. The proposed 2023/24 budget for total expenditure and Market Operator (MO) charges is £12,150k - covering both the delivery of our core services and improvement programmes – an annual increase below the current inflation levels.
MOSL’s Finance Director, Steve Formoy, said “Like all businesses we face a range of cost pressures in the current economic climate. Everything we do is funded by trading parties – so our relentless focus is on the need to be efficient and affordable and prioritise what we do. This plan seeks to do just that, whilst still enabling us to drive improvements in the areas our members have told us are most needed.”
In setting out its five key improvement programmes, MOSL has consulted heavily with trading parties on the costs, phasing and approach for each. This year’s plan sets out five multi-year improvement programmes that will help to deliver the strategic priorities set out in our 2021-24 Strategy and advance the market for the benefit of customers and the environment. These improvement programmes include:
- The Bilateral Transactions Programme
- Strategic Metering Review
- Market Performance Framework Reform
- Modernisation of Systems
- Central Data Cleanse Service
Whilst a continuation of what we set out in last year’s plan, our programmes have been developed to directly tackle known market frictions and the priorities raised by our members and stakeholders over the course of the year. This allows the programmes to remain flexible to address changing priorities, including the market’s ongoing recovery from the pandemic, the immediate cost-of-living crisis and our adaptation to the increasing climate change emergency and national water scarcity.
In December 2022, we consulted specifically on the approach and proposed funding mechanism for the Central Data Cleanse Service. Having received mixed responses from across our membership and having discussed the feedback directly with individual trading parties, we have revised our approach. MOSL will deliver a centrally supported data assessment and cleanse service to enable trading parties to improve and maintain the data held in CMOS. However, in response to feedback, we will adopt a gated approach which will set out a number of ‘proof points’ to evidence the value of continuing the next phase of work. This focused approach will reduce the cost for trading parties to the lower range provided in the consultation (£550k) and is still proposed to be funded by MO charges levied at wholesalers only. This funding mechanism is subject to the approval of a required code change, CPM050 ‘Data Cleanse Funding’, which we are consulting on in parallel.
For this year’s draft business plan, we are consulting specifically on the cost of our MO charges and the phasing and focus areas of our proposed improvement programmes – particularly the approach to the Central Data Cleanse Service and the next phase of the Bilateral Transactions Programme.
MOSL CEO, Sarah McMath, said “Transparency is the cornerstone of how we operate. Through extensive engagement with members, we have set out a plan that will allow us to deliver our programmes of work, whilst ensuring that trading parties have the time and resources to drive the improvements themselves. We have actively listened to our members in setting out the activities within our plan and have been highly mindful of cost pressures for all parties. I encourage members to respond to the consultation and look forward to our continued close working in the coming year.”
The consultation will run from 11 January until 25 January. We will take on board feedback from the consultation prior to publishing the final plan on 7 February for member voting. If you have any questions or comments on the 2023-26 Business Plan, please email
