No changes without consultation to business customer protection code

Stakeholders will continue to get a say on all proposed changes to the Customer Protection Code of Practice (CPCoP) in the business retail market after Ofwat altered the position it consulted on in September 2023.

The regulator said it will implement CP0012 on 1 March, which deals with ‘Tranche 1’ minor modifications to the CPCoP, but with some alterations. The most significant was that Ofwat had proposed it could make future non-substantive changes to the CPCoP without the requirement for a formal consultation.

However: “In light of concerns raised by respondents, including that the definition of non-substantive could be open to interpretation and that trading parties may miss the chance to provide views on a change that could impact them, we have amended the legal drafting of this change so that all change proposals must be consulted on. In the case of non-substantive changes, we have amended the legal text so that Ofwat has the discretion to run the consultation for less than 28 days, which we think will improve the efficiency of the change process while ensuring all stakeholders continue to have the opportunity to provide input into proposed changes to the CPCoP.”

Elsewhere, CP0012 makes clarifications, administrative updates, and the removal of Covid-19 provisions to the Code.

Ofwat has also extended the consultation on more substantive ‘Tranche 2’ changes to 23 February.