In April 2017, the non-household water supply market opened up for businesses, charities and public sector organisations in England meaning they are no longer restricted to buying water from their regional monopoly.  Thames Water had exited the non-household market ahead of this opening up and transferred their non-household customer base over to Castle Water. 

Contracting with a retailer means the council can secure value for money on the purchase of non-household water and wastewater services, whilst minimising the administrative burden through electronic billing capability along with collaborative work to reduce the council’s water footprint.

To award the contract to Wave Utilities for the supply of non-household water and wastewater services at Oxford City Council sites for an initial three year period from 2020 with the possibility of a two year contract extension.

LASER Energy has established an OJEU-compliant framework agreement for the supply of water, wastewater and additional services. The framework is available for all areas of England and accessible by all public sector bodies. With seven suppliers included in the framework, every mini-tender run will give customers the maximum choice of supplier. In addition, LASER Energy’s well considered scoring criteria are designed to fairly evaluate price, customer service and added value services to identify which offer truly gives best value.

As an immature market with limited retailer margins, there are far fewer procurement options available when compared to energy.  Oxford City Council has successfully used LASER Energy for energy procurement over a number of years and they introduced water procurement framework from the market opening.

A small number of local authorities (Blackpool and Nottingham City) have obtained self-supply licences from the regulator, enabling them to deal directly with wholesalers.  In discussions with industry experts, we have been advised that the council’s water consumption is below the desired threshold to make this a viable option plus it would require additional administrative resources to obtain regular meter readings and manage wholesaler interactions.

Mish Tullar, Head of Corporate Strategy, in consultation with Head of Financial Services, Head of Law and Governance and Cabinet Member for Green Transport and Zero Carbon Oxford.