The agreement will be judged after the quotation expires

A competitive quotation gives governors one reason to approve an energy agreement. The school will then live with its invoices, usage and contractual obligations throughout the term. A bill that needs explaining or an overnight load that needs investigating becomes part of the same financial decision. Renewal is the opportunity to decide who will do that work and what the school should receive for the full cost.

That decision begins before acceptance. The school needs to understand the complete cost, terms, fees and service, with clear advice about the options and the decisions it retains. Governors or trustees need evidence they can examine. Once supply begins, the same service brief should connect invoice checks, explanations of changes, consumption reviews and practical action, bringing finance and premises colleagues together around agreed outputs and responsibilities.

A capable third-party intermediary (TPI) can connect the purchase to that continuing work. Some provide procurement only; others have analysts, site consultants or specialist partners. The proposed team’s actual capability matters. Useful support can come through approved arrangements, local-authority services or a separately appointed adviser. Each route needs to be assessed on the service and evidence attached to it.

Why a penny is only part of the calculation

Consider an invented school using 500,000 kWh a year at 25p/kWh. Its variable energy charge is £125,000. The illustration excludes standing and other charges, tax, fees, implementation costs and contractual volume consequences. It is arithmetic to explain the buying question, not a current market quote or a saving forecast.

The example shows why demand deserves attention alongside price. It does not mean a school can or should cut use by 10%. Nor can the two standalone differences simply be added: once the rate changes, the value of each avoided kilowatt-hour changes too. An adviser’s forecast should explain those interactions and any cost of using less under the proposed agreement.

Start with the school, its data and a purposeful visit

A meaningful site consultation begins before the visit. Ask the adviser to review the meter list, bills and available interval data, identify gaps and arrive with questions. Bring together the business manager and premises lead, with catering, IT, lettings or boarding colleagues where their activities explain demand. Match the operating calendar to the consumption profile.

DfE’s estate guidance supports understanding usage, a site walk with a suitably competent person and a planned response. For this programme, our recommended output is a short report: the agreed operating profile, checked findings, unresolved questions, proposed actions, owners and review dates. The visit should produce useful findings and a clear plan for acting on them.

Keep the scope clear. A TPI is not automatically an engineer. Establish the visitor’s competence and any subcontracted role. Technical assessments need suitably qualified people. School staff retain control of changes to plant, settings and operations, with comfort, ventilation, safeguarding and safe building operation protected.

Turn a usage finding into a manageable action

An overnight load is a question to investigate. Servers, security, refrigeration, residential accommodation and legitimate evening use can explain it. Estimated readings or missing data can also distort the picture. Start by checking the finding with the people who know the site.

Where avoidable use is confirmed, agree a small, practical action with the relevant staff. That may mean a clear end-of-day responsibility, a holiday handover or feedback to a particular team. Explain the purpose, assign an owner and set a review date. Participation and completed actions are useful management measures. Any effect on energy use needs a separate check.

An energy-management service should close that loop. The report identifies the issue, the school authorises the response and a named person checks what happened. Compare suitable periods and explain weather, occupancy, opening hours and other changes. Use confirmed findings to improve the next demand forecast. A dashboard without this follow-through supplies information while leaving the school to do the management.

Agree what happens between renewals

Use a written service schedule to turn the proposal into an accountable relationship. The following is an illustrative pattern to negotiate, rather than a statutory standard. Match the work to the size, complexity and needs of your school.

Make capability, remuneration and incentives visible

Ask for a sample report, relevant school references and the names and roles of the people doing the work. State visit frequency and purpose, response and escalation arrangements, data access and exit handover. Identify which tasks are included and which require an additional fee or a separate specialist appointment. One appointed coordinator can simplify accountability when responsibilities remain explicit.

Ofgem’s July 2026 good-practice guidance supports transparency about an intermediary’s role, services, market coverage and remuneration. It is preparatory guidance for future rules, rather than proof of a comprehensive licensing guarantee. Require the full commercial explanation: direct fees, supplier-paid commission, referral payments and charges for additional work.

Where remuneration depends on consumption, ask how a reduction affects the adviser’s payment and the ongoing service. Also examine incentives to recommend particular suppliers or sell extra services. The school needs an understandable agreement and a way to challenge performance. The fee level alone establishes neither capability nor value.

How this strengthens the value-for-money case

Continuing support has a stronger place in the value assessment when the school can explain the problem it needs to solve. Unchecked invoices, gaps in consumption data or unresolved operating questions point to different requirements. A defined service makes the comparison more useful: named outputs, responsibilities, frequency, remuneration and a way to check delivery. The reasons for accepting any additional cost can then be examined alongside the expected benefit.

The Procurement Act allows that fuller assessment within the applicable buying rules. Covered procurement objectives include value for money, and competitive awards can assess the most advantageous tender using quality and whole-life cost alongside price. Relevant continuing services can strengthen the assessment when their costs, quality and expected benefits are properly evaluated. They do not create an exemption from procurement requirements.

The timing of that work matters. For an Act competitive tender, criteria must relate to the contract’s subject matter and be clear, measurable, specific and proportionate. The award criteria, assessment method and their relative importance must be available in the tender notice or associated documents before inviting tenders. The school must then follow the published process, including any lawfully permitted refinement. Required support belongs in the specification before offers are sought; an energy-management promise added after a preferred supplier emerges cannot repair an inadequate process.

The comparison also needs to identify who is obliged to deliver the work. The adviser appointment and the energy supply award remain distinct. A separately contracted adviser service needs assessment under its applicable route, and a supplier’s tender cannot be credited with services it has no obligation to provide. Record the total arrangement cost consistently, counting embedded remuneration once. A credible qualitative benefit can be assessed without inventing a cash saving.

For an academy trust considering an alternative, the case must demonstrate equivalent or better value against one or more DfE-approved options and retain the required comparison, evaluation and governance record. DfE’s implementation guidance expressly includes service scope, such as account management, bill validation and energy reporting, alongside cost, terms and risk. This gives the trust a basis for explaining the complete recommendation, including uncertainties and the reasons for accepting additional cost.

The school’s authority and route still determine how that decision is made. Maintained schools must establish local-authority powers, rules and commitments. Ordinary fee-funded independent schools use their applicable company or charity governance; the Act does not automatically apply to every private school. After award, the continuing record should show what was delivered, what changed, the net benefit where measurable and what the next renewal should take into account.

Show the result without inflating it

Look beyond consumption as well as beyond the tariff. West Mercia Energy reported £33,000 a year in standing and capacity-charge reductions for The Howard Multi Academy Trust after a capacity review and band reallocation. This December 2025 provider account concerns a managed framework service and the trust’s move from a previous broker. It is provider-reported, not independently audited, and illustrates a distinct charge-review benefit rather than an energy-use reduction or an outside-framework advantage.

Keep tariff effects, usage reductions, standing or capacity-charge changes, tax corrections and one-off recoveries in separate records. Label amounts as forecast, measured, agreed, credited or paid. Reconcile the net position after relevant fees and implementation costs. When comparing incremental service value, use additional costs against the comparator and avoid deducting embedded commission twice. A one-off refund must retain its period and status.

For a multi-academy trust, combine portfolio oversight with an explanation of each site. For a maintained school, clarify which tasks the authority already performs before buying overlapping support. For a private or boarding school, use its actual teaching, residential, catering and lettings calendars. Falling pupil numbers do not automatically remove a building’s base load.

The practical test is whether the school can understand what it bought, see the work being done and explain what improved. Bring that test into the renewal conversation. It gives governors and trustees a stronger account of value and gives the next buying decision a better foundation.