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BSC Audit
The Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) Audit is designed to provide assurance to
all BSC Parties that the provisions of the BSC and Code Subsidiary Documents in
relation to Settlement were complied with in the Audit year.
The BSC Audit is one of the key detective techniques that make up the Performance
Assurance Framework (PAF). Information on the BSC Audit cycle is available
here.
Latest News - Updated 13 June 2008
Publication of the BSC Audit Report (year ending 31 March 2008)
The BSC Auditor presented his Opinion for the BSC Year ending 31 March 2008 to the Panel on 12 June 2008. The error identified by the BSC Auditor is below the materiality threshold of 1.65TWh - therefore the Audit Opinion is not qualified. Issues previously contributing to high levels of error, detailed in the Statement of Significant matters, have improved and the associated error fallen by approximately half. This is the third year running the BSC Audit is not qualified.
The BSC Audit Report is available for download from the table further down this page.
ELEXON will present a formal response to the BSC Audit Report at the July Panel meeting. The BSC Auditor will present its findings at the SVA Forum on 16 July 2008.
If you have questions about the Audit Report, or any other aspects of the BSC Audit, please contact Matthew Wood on 020 7380 4190.
Audit Documentation and Reports
Scope
The BSC Panel determines the scope of the BSC Audit and sets the materiality threshold
for each BSC Year. For the audit period ending March 2008 the BSC Panel delegated
responsibility for approving the scope to the Performance Assurance Board (PAB),
who agreed a revised version of the scope at their meeting in July 2007. The BSC
Audit Scope is available to download below. Diagrams indicating the BSC Audit scope
coverage are also available below.
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Approach
The BSC Auditor provides ELEXON with an Audit Approach Document in response to the
Audit Scope. Non confidential versions of the Approach Document are available below.
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BSC Audit Report
The BSC Auditor’s report is provided to all BSC Parties and ELEXON. This report
highlights the key market issues that have high levels of error or risk associated
with them and that have had the greatest impact on the BSC Audit Opinion for the
period.
The Statement of Significant Matters (SSM) is a supporting document provided annually
and sits behind the BSC Audit Report listing in greater detail issues affecting
Settlement. Issues included in this document are significant because they have been
detected at, or have impact on, many Parties. An issue that has been detected at
a single party may also be included in the SSM if the Auditor feels there is a high
level of risk or error associated with it. Many of the issues highlighted in the
SSM are the root cause contributors to those highlighted in the BSC Audit Report.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, as the BSC Auditor, has completed the Report for the audit
of the calculations and allocations performed in relation to Settlement from 1 April
2007 to 31 March 2008. Please select the link below to view the BSC Auditor’s Report.
Also available below are past BSC Audit Reports. Status Reports are available for
audit periods between 1 October 2001 and 31 March 2004. Status Reports were discontinued
following the 2005 review of the BSC Audit Terms of Reference. More information
on this review is available from the BSC Audit Review - 2005 section below.
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Notice re: BSC Auditor’s report for the year ended 31 March 2007
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This notice concerns the BSC Auditor’s report for the year ended 31 March 2008 dated
12 June 2008 (the "Report").
This notice does not apply to any BSC Trading Parties, ELEXON Limited (“ELEXON”),
the Transmission Company (including the employees of the foregoing acting within
the scope of their employment duties) or the BSC Panel.
The Balancing and Settlement Code (“BSC”) obliges ELEXON to post a copy of the Report
on the BSC Website. The Report was prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (the limited
liability partnership registered in England under registration no. OC303525 and
with its registered address at 1 Embankment Place, London WC2N 6RH, United Kingdom)
("PwC").
PwC require that, in order for the Report to be made available to you, (on your
personal behalf and, if you are accessing this Report on behalf of your employer
in the scope of your employment duties, on your employer's behalf) you acknowledge
that you and, if appropriate, your employer (together, "You") enjoy such receipt
for information purposes only and accept the following terms:
- The Report was prepared by PwC on the instructions of ELEXON and with only the interests
of Trading Parties, the Transmission Company, the BSC Panel and ELEXON in mind;
this Report was not planned in contemplation of use by You. The Report cannot in
any way serve as a substitute for any enquiries and procedures which You will or
should be undertaking for the purposes of satisfying yourselves regarding any issue.
- No work has been carried out nor have any enquiries of ELEXON’s management been
made since 12 June 2008, The Report does not incorporate the effects, if any, of
any events or circumstances which may have occurred or information which may have
come to light subsequent to that date. PwC makes no representation as to whether,
had PwC carried out such work or made such enquiries, there would have been any
material effect on the Report. Further, PwC has no obligation to notify You if any
matters come to its attention which might affect the continuing validity of the
comments or conclusions in the Report.
- You acknowledge that PwC, its members, partners, employees and agents neither owe
nor accept any duty or responsibility to You, whether in contract or in tort (including
without limitation, negligence and breach of statutory duty) or howsoever otherwise
arising, and shall not be liable in respect of any loss, damage or expense of whatsoever
nature which is caused by any use You may choose to make of the Report, or which
is otherwise consequent upon the provision of the Report to You.
- PwC is not authorised to give explanations in relation to the Report. However, should
any PwC member, partner, employee or agent provide You with any explanations or
further information, You acknowledge that they are given subject to the same terms
as those specified in this notice in relation to the Report.
- The Report, or information obtained from it, must not be made available or copied,
in whole or in part to any other person without PwC's prior written permission which
PwC may, at its discretion, grant, withhold or grant subject to conditions (including
conditions as to legal responsibility or absence thereof).
- Without conferring any greater rights than You would otherwise have at law, it is
accepted that this notice does not exclude any liability which any party may have
for death or personal injury or for the consequences of its own fraud.
- Unless otherwise stated, all terms and expressions used in this notice shall have
the same meaning attributed to them in the BSC.
- This notice shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of England.
The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any claim,
dispute or difference which may arise out of or in connection with this notice.
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Funding Shares Audit Reports
The Funding Shares Audit forms part of the BSC Audit. The Funding Shares Audit findings
are published separately and are available to download below.
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Please note that all of these reports are intended solely for the
use and benefit of ELEXON, ELEXON’s subsidiaries, BSC Parties and the BSC Panel.
These reports are published for information purposes only and neither ELEXON nor
PwC intend that they should be relied upon by anyone other than the parties mentioned
above.
Materiality Report
As a result of Stakeholder feedback, ELEXON has asked the BSC Auditor to produce
a Materiality Report for the audit period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. This provides
extra information on the distribution of errors noted at a market level in the BSC
Audit Report. Information on how the materiality of each issue has been determined
is also covered.
The Materiality Report is available to download from the below table. Several of
the graphs included within this report are coded; this is done so that Suppliers
can be made aware individually of their own position. Each graph is coded separately
so no comparisons can be made between the codes on different graphs.
The information contained within the Materiality report is derived from the BSC
Auditor’s work in relation to the BSC Audit and does not represent an estimate of
the total error in any individual category or across settlement as a whole and therefore
should not be relied upon.
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BSC Audit Issue Documents
Party Specific Issue Documents
Issue Documents are raised by the BSC Auditor against requirements defined in the
BSC and Code Subsidiary Documents and will highlight further control issues identified
during on-site field work. Individual documents are raised against Suppliers, Supplier
Agents, Supplier Meter Registration Agents, BSC Agents (in relation to the Central
Systems) and ELEXON. All parties have the opportunity to discuss and agree the content
of their Issue Documents. After this review audited entities are required to confirm
their acceptance of the Audit Issue, then the Audit Issue becomes finalised. Only
after Issue Documents have been reviewed and confirmed by the party that they relate
to are they considered finalised. Finalised Issue Documents are released to the
party to whom they relate (and ELEXON) following the publication of the Audit Report
in June. In order for non-BSC Parties to receive their Issue Documents and other
Audit Deliverables they must have a Hold Harmless letter in place. More information
on
Hold Harmless letters is available below.
Information regarding the resolution of BSC Audit Issue Documents is available on
the
Issue Resolution link below.
If you require any further information or have feedback regarding the BSC Audit
please contact Matthew Wood by telephone on 0207 380 4190 or by e-mail at
matthew.wood@elexon.co.uk.
Market Issue Documents
Non-confidential versions of the Market Issues for the audit period ending 31 March 2008 are available below. This section will next be updated in July 2009 with the Market Issues for the audit period ending 31 March 2009.
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Balancing Mechanism Audit
The requirement for the Balancing Mechanism (BM) Audit is set out in Section H5
of the BSC. The BM Auditor is appointed by the Transmission company to audit the
following areas:
(a) the compiling and submission of Final Physical Notification Data by the Transmission
Company pursuant and in accordance with Section Q.
(b) the compiling and submission of Bid-Offer data by the Transmission Company pursuant
and in accordance with Section Q.
(c) the compiling and submission of Acceptance Data by the Transmission Company
pursuant and in accordance with Section Q.
(d) the submission of other data by the Transmission Company pursuant and in accordance
with Section Q.
The Balancing Mechanism Audit report for the BSC year ending 31 March 2008 can be
downloaded
from the National Grid website.
References
Refer to the table below to find out about the BSC Audit Review of 2005, the Issue
Resolution, the Audit Cycle, Ad Hoc Audits or Hold Harmless Letters