Northern Ireland regulator consults on best practice condition for vulnerable customers

Northern Ireland’s Utility Regulator has opened a consultation on its proposal to add a new condition to the licences of Northern Ireland Water and the devolved province’s other utilities to implement a new code of practice to “better identify, support and protect consumers in vulnerable circumstances”.

The regulator said its objective is to “address the current gaps in the service provision for utility consumers in vulnerable circumstances within Northern Ireland and ensure the consumers are identified, adequately protected, and receive an appropriate level of support.” It went on to say the new code will ensure that the protections for Northern Ireland consumers are “consistent, adequately promoted, and reflective of best practice exemplars seen in Great Britain and across other jurisdictions and regulated sectors”.

On reviewing Northern Ireland Water’s licence, the regulator said it had identified further “non-contentious” licence modifications that could “help reduce the regulatory burden and better align the licence with current regulatory processes and requirements.”

It said “it has become clear that some of the regulatory returns stipulated in the licence are no longer required or may not be required as frequently,” and specified its decision that Northern Ireland Water’s submission of its procurement plan as part of its price control submission “will be sufficient to meet our regulatory needs and that we do not currently need it to submit current cost accounts”. This conclusion followed earlier derogations in relation to the need to submit a procurement plan every 18 months and to submit current cost accounts annually.

Responses to the consultation paper should be submitted by 5pm on 27 June 2024.