SASA (Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture) - Sites, utilities and energy procurement queries: EIR release

Information requested

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?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

The answer to your questions is:

General Information:

Request	Response
How many sites are part of this organisation?	SASA only uses one site which is located at Roddinglaw Road, Edinburgh, EH12 9FJ. You can find more details about SASA in the following link. SASA (Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture) | Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture
Are utilities (gas, electricity, water) procured collectively on behalf of all schools, or by individual academies?	Utilities are procured by the Scottish Government as one organisation which SASA is part of. You can find more details about the utilities procurement process in the following link Procurement: Scottish Government frameworks and contracts - gov.scot Utilities for the vast majority of Scottish further education premises and schools are procured through the Scottish Government Gas, Electricity and Water frameworks.
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?	Our organisation utilises the Scottish Government frameworks who arrange utility contracts on our behalf. All Scottish Government utility procurement is governed by a combination of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The Education and Skills Funding Agency no longer exists and has been incorporated into the Department for Education in England. Our organisation has no relationship with these organisations.
Does the organisation use a DfE-approved framework for energy procurement? If yes, which one?	No, it uses the Scottish Government Electricity & Gas frameworks.
Does the organisation have any sustainability or Net Zero objectives that influence procurement decisions? If yes, please summarise	Yes, the Scottish Government has Net Zero objectives which you can find details in the following link Climate change - gov.scot

Energy Procurement & Pricing:

Request	Response
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.	There is a competitive tendering process undertaken. No brokers or Third Party Intermediaries are used. Only licensed Gas/Electricity suppliers are able to bid for the frameworks. Details about the frameworks are here: Procurement - natural gas: framework agreement - gov.scot Framework scope and benefits - Procurement - supply of electricity framework SP-21-052: buyer guide - gov.scot
When was your current electricity contract signed or agreed?	The Scottish Government Electricity framework started on 01 April 2023.
When was your current gas contract signed or agreed?	The Scottish Government Gas framework started on 01 April 2024.
What is the current contract end date for your electricity supply?	The Scottish Government Electricity framework was recently extended to 31 March 2027. There are options to extend for a further 2 x 12 month periods (1+1), meaning the maximum end date will be 31 March 2029.
What is the current contract end date for your gas supply?	The Scottish Government Gas framework end date is 31 March 2027 with 3 x 1 year possible extensions – potentially making the end date 31 March 2030.
Who is your current electricity supplier?	The supplier to the Scottish Government electricity framework is ‘EDF Energy Customers Limited’.
Who is your current gas supplier?	The supplier to the Scottish Government gas framework is ‘TotalEnergies Gas and Power Ltd’.
If your electricity contract is fixed price, what is the current unit rate (p/kWh)?	The unit rate is fixed annually for the period 01 April to 31 March. £0.191453 per kWh (Day) £0.163854 per kWh (Night)
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.	The electricity framework is ‘flexible’. However, the framework wholesale rate is fixed annually for the period 01 April to 31 March.
If your gas contract is fixed price, what is the current unit rate (p/kWh)?	The unit rate is fixed annually for the period 01 April to 31 March. Gas unit rate is £0.038986 per 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.	The gas framework is ‘flexible’. However, the framework wholesale rate is fixed annually for the period 01 April to 31 March.
What is the current standing charge (p/day) for electricity and gas?	Every meter has a different standing charge. Standing charges are: Electricity £0.00 and Gas £58.76 per day.
Was a broker or Third Party Intermediary (TPI) involved in arranging your current contracts? If yes, please state their name.	No brokers or Third party intermediaries were involved in the arrangements.
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.	No commission, broker fee or TPI payments have been made. The supply of Gas and Electricity is procured through the Scottish Government’s frameworks.
How many suppliers submitted quotations for your most recent electricity and gas procurement?	The suppliers who submitted bids for the Scottish Government Gas and Electricity frameworks are as follows: One bid received for Electricity. One bid received for Gas.

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)

Request	Response
Are any of your electricity meters Half-Hourly (HH) settled (Profile Class 00)?	Yes
If yes, how many HH meters does the organisation have, and across which sites?	One across SASA site.
Who is the current Meter Operator (MOP) for your electricity meters?	The Meter Operator is appointed by each framework customer, there are circa 300 public sector customers on the Scottish Government Electricity framework. A framework customer may use a MOP from the following list: EDF SP Dataserve Imserv Stark Energy Assets  Power Data Associates (UMS) SASA uses EDF Energy
When was the current MOP contract signed, and what is its end date?	Start date 01/04/2024. End date 31/03/2027.
Who is the current Data Collector (DC) and Data Aggregator (DA) for your electricity meters?	There are 300 public sector customers on the Scottish Government Electricity framework. A framework customer may use a DC/DA from the following list: Stark Imserv SP Dataserve SASA uses Western Power.
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?	These are embedded within the billing rates and not shown separately.
Were MOP, DA, and DC contracts competitively tendered, or were they assigned by the supplier or framework?	EDF appoints our MOP for us.

Energy Monitoring & Management

Request	Response
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 / live data / half-hourly/ Day+1 data / monthly smart read only / manual reads only. Which platform, portal or software is used to view or analyse energy consumption data?	Yes, it has half hourly data access. For the gas consumption we use “My Gateway” which is the Total Gas Portal, and for Electricity it is the “ebs-portal” from EDF Energy.
Is gas consumption monitored separately to electricity? If yes, how?	Yes, using a separate meter.
Does the organisation receive automated alerts for unusual or excessive energy consumption (e.g. overnight or weekend usage)?	No
Does the organisation receive any bill validation or bill checking service, from a broker, consultant, or software platform?	No
Has the organisation undertaken any energy audits, Display Energy Certificate (DEC) assessments, or ESOS compliance reporting in the last three years?	Yes
Has the organisation ever used energy data to identify and evidence savings? If yes, please give a brief summary.	Yes. Cutting back on plant operating times, and moving from MTHW to LTHW on the boiler heating plant.

Water Procurement & Monitoring

Request	Response
How are your water and wastewater contracts procured?	The Scottish Government Water and Waste Water framework is procured through a competitive tender process governed by a combination of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014
Which framework, DPS, or third-party was used? Please state the name.	The Scottish Government procures Water and Waste Water billing services through its own competitively procured framework. Details here: Procurement: water and waste water billing services framework - gov.scot
When was your current water contract signed or agreed?	The current contract commenced on 01 April 2024.
What is the current contract end date for your water supply?	The current contract ends on 31 March 2027. However, there is an optional one year extension potentially taking the expiry date to 31 March 2028.
Who is your current water supplier?	Scottish Water Business Stream Ltd is the framework supplier.
What unit rate (p/m3) are you currently paying for water and wastewater, if known?	Pure Utilities £0.0317 for water £0.0532 for waste The unit rate is fixed annually for the period 01 April to 31 March.
How many suppliers submitted quotations for your most recent water procurement?	There was one bidder for the Scottish Government water and waste framework.
Was a broker or TPI used in procuring your water contract? If yes, please state their name and any fee or commission paid.	No brokers or Third-Party Intermediaries were used. The requirement was tendered between licensed retail water suppliers.
Are there any additional services included such as leak detection, water efficiency, or bill validation? If yes, please describe.	There are optional ancillary services, and the list is available at this website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/water-and-waste-water services-framework/
Does the organisation have any water monitoring or sub metering in place to detect leaks or track consumption at site level?	Yes

Most of the information you have requested is available from the Scottish Government website as per the links above. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

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