Home Energy Scotland Service Level Agreements: EIR release

Information requested

1. What are the service level agreements for customers using the Home Energy Scotland advice network and Home Energy Scotland loans and cashback applications
2. How did the Home Energy Scotland providers perform against these Service Level Agreements in the previous year, and how are they performing against these Service Level Agreements in the current year?
3. What penalties do Home Energy Scotland's providers receive if they do not meet these Service Level Agreements.

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.

Response

The answers to your questions are provided below. The Home Energy Scotland (HES) advice network is funded via a grant awarded under Section 153 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 while the Home Energy Scotland loans and cashback scheme is delivered via a separate contract. As such, I have divided the answer into two subsections, the first of which provides the requested information on the HES advice network and the second on the Home Energy Scotland loans and cashback scheme.

Part 1: Home Energy Scotland Advice Service

1. What are the service level agreements for customers using the Home Energy Scotland advice network?

The purpose of the Home Energy Scotland advice service is to support customers in a wide range of circumstances, many of whom are vulnerable. The response is tailored and bespoke to each customer and can vary from a quick single telephone or email enquiry to a call taking an hour or more, or a series of responses over many weeks. The key objective is whether the advice centre has been able to help the customer, and whether they are satisfied with the service provided.

Customer satisfaction

To ensure the service is being delivered to a high standard and that customers are satisfied with the advice they receive, Energy Saving Trust uses an agreed methodology for measuring customer satisfaction. Home Energy Scotland advice centres are expected to achieve minimum customer satisfaction levels of 96.5%.

Calls answered

Energy Saving Trust monitors the percentage of inbound calls answered by an advisor during operational hours for each Home Energy Scotland advice centre. Home Energy Scotland advice centres are expected to answer 85% of inbound calls during operational hours.

2. How did the Home Energy Scotland providers perform against these Service Level Agreements in the previous year, and how are they performing against these Service Level Agreements in the current year?

Customer satisfaction

Financial year	Target	Performance
April 2021- March 2022	96.5% customer satisfaction level	96.96%
April 2022- August 2022	(As above)	94.06%

Calls answered by an advisor during operational hours

Financial year	Target	Performance
April 2021- March 2022	85% of inbound calls answered	83%
April 2022- August 2022	(As above)	80%

The advice centres have experienced exceptional growth in the numbers of inbound advice requests (calls and emails) since the COVID-19 outbreak, with increasing numbers of callers struggling with paying for fuel bills or worried about heating their homes. The Scottish Government has increased funding to allow for the recruitment of additional advisors to boost the advice capacity of the Home Energy Scotland network this year.

Volumes for the first half of this year, and last year, in relation to the comparable period in a pre-covid year (2019) are given below:

Financial year (April – Sep)	Volume of advice requests	Increase on 2019 comparison
2019 (pre covid base year)	33,111	-
2021	48,260	46%
2022	67,854	104%

3. What penalties do Home Energy Scotland's providers receive if they do not meet these Service Level Agreements?

There are no penalty clauses in the Home Energy Scotland contracts for advice centre providers. Energy Saving Trust performance manages the Home Energy Scotland advice centre contractors. The management team within each Home Energy Scotland advice centre are required to meet with Energy Saving Trust monthly to review performance against targets. They are required to explain any variance from forecasts and to produce plans to get performance back on track as appropriate. Energy Saving Trust reports to the Scottish Government on a monthly basis.

To ensure Energy Saving Trust continues to drive high levels of performance - even during exceptionally busy times - a process of quality monitoring, feedback and coaching is applied for all advisors to ensure the service provided remains of high quality.

Part 2: Home Energy Scotland Loans and Cashback Scheme

1. What are the service level agreements for customers using Home Energy Scotland loans and cashback applications?

For the HES Loans, performance management and service levels are tracked using a balance scorecard using the following high level indicators:

Delivery	1. Delivers on time 2. Accuracy
Service	1. Communication 2. Complaints/Issues/Disputes
Quality	1. Meets Customers’ needs 2. Sustainability
Cost	1. Invoice accuracy

2. How did the Home Energy Scotland providers perform against these Service Level Agreements in the previous year, and how are they performing against these Service Level Agreements in the current year?

Please note the contract runs from June to May. The below figures include the performance for 2020/ 21 and 2021/22.

Description	Minimum Score required	Score Achieved 2020/21	Achieved 2020/21 Score Achieved 2021/22
DELIVERY
Applications Processed	80%	98%	95%
Loan Payments Processed	80%	88%	86%
Cashback Payments Processed	80%	88%	85%
Response to Requests: Urgent within 2 hours General within 3 working days Audit/financial/year end information requests	80% 80% 80%	100% 100% 94%	100% 97% 92%
Loan Document correct first time	80%	100%	100%
QUALITY
Client Satisfaction Levels	80%	76%	73%
Quality score for level of customer service	80%	90%	97%
SERVICE
Service: Calls Picked up within 30 seconds Emails answered within 2 working days Complaints dealt with within 5 working days	80% 80% 80%	52% 88% 100%	84% 72% 100%
COST
Invoice Accuracy	80%	92%	100%
Invoices sent on time	80%	92%	100%

3. What penalties do Home Energy Scotland's providers receive if they do not meet these Service Level Agreements.

SLA Penalties

Service Level	Service Credit/Penalty
For each month in which invoices are submitted late to the Purchaser	£250
For each data/management information file or report submitted late (ie after the contractually specified or otherwise agreed date) to the Purchaser or Quality Assurance and Audit Agent	£500
For each justified complaint escalated to the Purchaser by the customer directly or via a representative (eg their MSP) where, in the opinion of the Purchaser, the complaint is reasonable	£500
For each ad hoc audit required as a result of a failure of the Contractor to adhere to the terms of the contract	£5000
For each month in which Quality Assurance and Audit Agent highlights failures to adhere to requisite customer service standards, where these same failures have been highlighted in two or more consecutive months	£1000
For each working day elapsed after the commencement date of which milestones in the mobilisation plan scheduled for completion before the commencement date are not delivered of which the contractor is solely responsible for	£1000

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