About the BSC Audit

The BSC Audit is retrospective, so work is completed at the end of the audit year. The peak of on–site work is February to April and the BSC Audit Report is published in June each year.

The BSC Audit has a Materiality Threshold of 1.2TWh (for 2019/20 audit year). If the total materiality of the errors found by the BSC Auditor exceeds this threshold, it triggers qualification of the audit opinion (contained within each year’s BSC Audit Report).

The BSC Auditor bases its opinion for a ‘qualified’ or ‘unqualified’ audit on the level of cumulative error discovered in Settlement against the acceptable level of error as defined by the Materiality Threshold.

Who is the BSC Auditor?

The current Auditor employed by Elexon is KPMG.

Their initial contract expires with the end of the 2017/18 audit cycle with the option for Elexon to extend for a further two years.

BSC Auditor’s opinion

The BSC Auditor has not sought to qualify the assurance opinion for the year ended 31 March 2019 in respect of the calculations and allocations performed in relation to Settlement activities associated with the BSC and the Code Subsidiary Documents.

BSC auditor’s reports

There is a dedicated page that details the various reports related to the BSC Audit and includes information on the BSC Auditor’s Report,  the Audit Issues Report, the Funding Shares Audit and the Scope and approach documents.

• More on BSC Auditor Reports

Statement of Significant Matters

This BSC Audit Report includes the Statement of Significant Matters raised for the period ended 31 March 2019.

The following key issues have been highlighted within the 2017/18 BSC Audit report’s statement of significant matters:

Issues relating to Metering

• Metering System faults not resolved in a timely manner
• Incomplete or delayed provision of meter reads and Meter Technical Details
• Energisation status not confirmed
• Change of Measurement Class
• Commissioning

Data quality issues in the Non Half Hourly market

• NHHDA D0095 exception report
• NHH standing data flow and meter reading backlogs
• NHHDA D0023 exception report (previously reported within Other individually insignificant errors)
• Erroneous values of EACs and AAs
• Long Term Vacant (LTV) process

Data quality issues in the Half Hourly Market

• D0235 exception report and D0004 flows backlogs

Auditor’s report disclaimer

This notice concerns the BSC Auditor’s Report for the year ended 31 March 2017 dated 8 June 2017 (the “Report”).This notice concerns the BSC Auditor’s Report for the year ended 31 March 2017 dated 8 June 2017 (the “Report”).

This notice does not apply to any BSC Trading Parties, Elexon Limited (“Elexon”) or the BSC Panel.

The Balancing and Settlement Code (“BSC”) obliges Elexon to post a copy of the Report on the BSC Website. The Report was prepared by KPMG LLP (a UK limited liability partnership with its registered address at 15 Canada Square, London, E14 5GL, United Kingdom) (“KPMG”).

KPMG require that, in order for the Report to be made available to you, (on your personal behalf and, if you are accessing this Report on behalf of your employer in the scope of your employment duties, on your employer’s behalf) you acknowledge that you and, if appropriate, your employer (together, “You”) enjoy such receipt for information purposes only and accept the following terms:

1. The Report was prepared by KPMG on the instructions of Elexon and with only the interests of Trading Parties, the BSC Panel and Elexon in mind; this Report was not planned in contemplation of use by You. The Report cannot in any way serve as a substitute for any enquiries and procedures which You will or should be undertaking for the purposes of satisfying yourselves regarding any issue.
2. No work has been carried out nor have any enquiries of Elexon’s management been made since 9 June 2016. The Report does not incorporate the effects, if any, of any events or circumstances which may have occurred or information which may have come to light subsequent to that date. KPMG makes no representation as to whether, had KPMG carried out such work or made such enquiries, there would have been any material effect on the Report. Further, KPMG has no obligation to notify You if any matters come to its attention which might affect the continuing validity of the comments or conclusions in the Report.
3. You acknowledge that KPMG, its members, partners, employees and agents neither owe nor accept any duty or responsibility to You, whether in contract or in tort (including without limitation, negligence and breach of statutory duty) or howsoever otherwise arising, and shall not be liable in respect of any loss, damage or expense of whatsoever nature which is caused by any use You may choose to make of the Report, or which is otherwise consequent upon the provision of the Report to You.
4. KPMG is not authorised to give explanations in relation to the Report. However, should any KPMG member, partner, employee or agent provide You with any explanations or further information, You acknowledge that they are given subject to the same terms as those specified in this notice in relation to the Report.
5. The Report, or information obtained from it, must not be made available or copied, in whole or in part to any other person without KPMG’s prior written permission which KPMG may, at its discretion, grant, withhold or grant subject to conditions (including conditions as to legal responsibility or absence thereof).
6. Without conferring any greater rights than You would otherwise have at law, it is accepted that this notice does not exclude any liability which any party may have for death or personal injury or for the consequences of its own fraud.
7. Unless otherwise stated, all terms and expressions used in this notice shall have the same meaning attributed to them in the BSC.
8. This notice shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of England. The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any claim, dispute or difference which may arise out of or in connection with this notice.

The BSC Audit is referred to as a detective technique it is used to identify issues that may exist within company processes or across the wider industry that may impact the accuracy or completeness of Settlement.

The BSC obligation

The objectives, parameters and requirements for the BSC Audit are set out in section H5 of the BSC. It requires that the BSC Audit is a compliance-based audit.

Section H5 of the BSC: ‘provide assurance (to such level as the Panel considers appropriate) that the provisions of the Code and Code Subsidiary Documents in relation to Settlement and in relation to the calculation of Funding Shares have been complied with in the Audit Year’.