BSCC-FOI-0326-NC: utility contracts
Updated 26 March 2026
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Office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
26 March 2026
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/biometrics-and-surveillance-camera-commissioner
To: [redacted]
Reference: BSCC-FOI-0326-NC
Letter by email to [redacted]
Dear [redacted],
I write in response to an email received by my office on 25 March 2026 in which you asked for the following information:
“General Information:
How many sites are part of this organisation?
Are utilities (gas, electricity, water) procured collectively on behalf of all schools, or by individual academies?
Who is responsible for procurement decisions relating to utilities? (Please state job title) How does the organisation ensure compliance with DfE / ESFA and public procurement regulations when procuring energy?
Does the organisation use a DfE-approved framework for energy procurement? If yes, which one?
Does the organisation have any sustainability or Net Zero objectives that influence procurement decisions? If yes, please summarise.
Energy Procurement & Pricing:
How are your electricity and gas contracts procured? (e.g. direct with supplier, via broker/TPI, via framework) Which framework, DPS, or third-party broker/TPI is or was used? Please state the name.
When was your current electricity contract signed or agreed?
When was your current gas contract signed or agreed?
What is the current contract end date for your electricity supply?
What is the current contract end date for your gas supply?
Who is your current electricity supplier?
Who is your current gas supplier?
If your electricity contract is fixed price, what is the current unit rate (p/kWh)?
If your contract is flexible, half-hourly traded, or index-linked, please just confirm the contract type and we will not ask for a specific rate.
If your gas contract is fixed price, what is the current unit rate (p/kWh)?
If your contract is flexible, half-hourly traded, or index-linked, please just confirm the contract type and we will not ask for a specific rate.
What is the current standing charge (p/day) for electricity and gas?
Was a broker or Third Party Intermediary (TPI) involved in arranging your current contracts? If yes, please state their name.
What commission, broker fee, or TPI payment was paid in connection with your current gas and/or electricity contracts? Please state the amount per meter, per contract, or as a p/kWh uplift. If the organisation does not hold this information, please confirm whether it has been requested from the broker or supplier.
How many suppliers submitted quotations for your most recent electricity and gas procurement?
Metering, MOP, DA & DC Arrangements:
(MOP = Meter Operator I DA = Data Aggregator I DC = Data Collector- these are contracted services that determine how your energy data is captured and settled) Are any of your electricity meters Half-Hourly (HH) settled (Profile Class 00)?
If yes, how many HH meters does the organisation have, and across which sites?
Who is the current Meter Operator (MOP) for your electricity meters?
When was the current MOP contract signed, and what is its end date?
Who is the current Data Collector (DC) and Data Aggregator (DA) for your electricity meters?
What charges are applied for MOP, DA, and DC services? Are these shown as a separate line item on bills, or embedded within the unit rate?
Were MOP, DA, and DC contracts competitively tendered, or were they assigned by the supplier or framework?
Energy Monitoring & Management
Does the organisation currently have any form of energy monitoring in place? (e.g. AMR, smart meter portal, half-hourly data access, real-time dashboards) If yes, which sites have monitoring, and what type is in place at each? Please distinguish between: real-time I live data I half-hourly/ Day+1 data I monthly smart read only I manual reads only Which platform, portal or software is used to view or analyse energy consumption data?
Is gas consumption monitored separately to electricity? If yes, how?
Does the organisation receive automated alerts for unusual or excessive energy consumption (e.g. overnight or weekend usage)?
Does the organisation receive any bill validation or bill checking service, from a broker, consultant, or software platform?
Has the organisation undertaken any energy audits, Display Energy Certificate (DEC) assessments, or ESOS compliance reporting in the last three years?
Has the organisation ever used energy data to identify and evidence savings? If yes, please give a brief summary.
Water Procurement & Monitoring:
How are your water and wastewater contracts procured?
Which framework, DPS, or third-party was used? Please state the name.
When was your current water contract signed or agreed?
What is the current contract end date for your water supply?
Who is your current water supplier?
What unit rate (p/m3) are you currently paying for water and wastewater, if known?
How many suppliers submitted quotations for your most recent water procurement?
Was a broker or TPI used in procuring your water contract? If yes, please state their name and any fee or commission paid.
Are there any additional services included such as leak detection, water efficiency, or bill validation? If yes, please describe.
Does the organisation have any water monitoring or sub-metering in place to detect leaks or track consumption at site level?”
Your email has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. While the initial part of your request (general information) appears to be directed at the Department for Education, I have treated the whole of your request as one to me as the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner.
I am a regulator independent of, but appointed by, government. My office is an arm’s length body (ALB) of the Home Office, established in 2022 when the Biometrics Commissioner’s Office and the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s Office were merged under one Commissioner, becoming the Office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner (OBSCC).
To answer your first question, the OBSCC is located in a single office.
As an ALB of the Home Office, all contracts for utilities are the responsibility of the Home Office, therefore my office holds no information relating to any of the other questions within your request.
If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months to the address below, quoting reference BSCC-FOI-0326-NC. If you ask for an internal review, it would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the response.
[redacted]
5th Floor, 2 Ruskin Square
Broad Green
Croydon
CR0 2WF
e-mail: Sciencesupportfoi@homeoffice.gov.uk
As part of any internal review, our handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. If you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.
Kind regards
Professor William Webster
Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner
Email: enquiries@obscc.org.uk