FOI_26-065 Procurement

Date of response: 19 August 2026

We have now considered your request of 21 July 2026 for the following information:

Question 1. Appointment of Inspired

Please provide information relating to the appointment of Inspired, including:

- The procurement route used to appoint Inspired.

Our response:

We have established some of the requested information is reasonably accessible by other means and so has been exempted under section 21(1) of the Act. The section 21 exemption allows us to exempt requested information we hold if that information is reasonably available to the requester by another route (whether through commercial publication or publicly-funded provision).  

Section 21(1) applies to this question and we would direct you to see PURCON905 University of East Anglia Energy Broker - AWARD - Contracts Finder

- The date Inspired was appointed as the University energy broker.

Our response:

11/12/2020

- Copies of any appointment recommendation, approval, or decision documents relating to the selection of Inspired.

Our response:

Please see FOI_26-065 Appendix A

On this occasion, it is not possible to provide all the requested information. The Act contains a number of exemptions that allow public authorities to withhold certain information from release. We have applied the following exemption(s) to part of your request. 

S.40(2), Personal information - Disclosure of some of the requested information would be contrary to the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation  

In line with s.40(2) of the Act we have removed certain personal data from the documents attached. 

We believe that some of the requested information, specifically names of individual members of staff at both organisations, constitutes the personal data of those individuals, as defined by Article 4(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).   

We believe that disclosure of the personal information relating to these individuals would be contrary to the requirements of Article 5(1)(a) of the GDPR; namely that information must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. These individuals would have no expectation that this information would be made publicly available, and we have not identified a lawful basis that would allow or require us to disclose this information. 

Where information has been removed from the accompanying file we have replaced the text with a grey rectangle. 

Question 2. Services Provided by Inspired

Please provide details of the scope of services provided by Inspired under this arrangement, including any agreed responsibilities or deliverables.

Our response:

UEA required an energy broker to assist with the strategy, advice and trading of our power and gas import and export contracts, requirements were listed as follows:

The Contractor shall be required to undertake the following activities:

• Produce an energy procurement and risk management strategy in consultation with the University.

• Undertake gas and electricity tenders in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, as and when required.

• Management of the flexible gas and electricity contracts

• Liaise with suppliers on behalf of the University

• Bill validation

• Monitor the market and provide recommendations for fixing and re-floating.

• Provide daily market information

• Provide advice on fixing and re-floating gas and electricity and Trade on the University’s behalf.

• Provision of a named account manager

• Attend quarterly contract review meetings.

• Monitor and provide advice on volume breaches.

• Provide a fixed management fee for the provision of the service

• Undertake other associated services as and when required.

• Provide guidance on how to maximise the benefits/minimise the impacts of energy regulatory changes specific for our circumstances.

• Provide services to assistance in ensuring UEA remains compliant with Energy legislations

Question 3. Benchmarking and Value for Money Assessment Please provide information relating to any assessment undertaken by the university before appointing Inspired, including:

- Whether the university undertook any benchmarking exercise, market testing, options appraisal, or comparison exercise before appointing Inspired.

Our response:

The University did not undertake formal benchmarking, market testing, or comparative assessment. However, all suppliers on the closed supplier list were contacted by email and informed of the upcoming opportunity.

- If benchmarking or comparison activity was undertaken, please provide the number of alternative providers considered.

Our response:

Three suppliers, including the successful supplier, responded to the tender and were considered.

- If no benchmarking exercise was undertaken, please provide details of how the university assessed that the appointment represented value for money.

Our response:

A price score weighting of 40% of the criteria for award was included in the decision-making.

Question 4. Commercial Arrangements

Please provide details of the commercial arrangements relating to Inspired's appointment, including:

- Confirmation of the management fee payable to Inspired under this arrangement.

Our response:

Total consultancy spend for Inspired Energy is £103,422.58 (inc. VAT)