Dear Customer,

As we mark the end of year one of the new Framework, providing water and waste water services to Public Sector Scotland, I am delighted with what we have been able to deliver and the savings we’ve achieved with over £2million in water savings generated since April 2024.

As part of our commitments to you under the new Framework, we’ve made a number of improvements to the services we provide over the last 12 months - including various enhancements to our online portal My Business Stream (MyBS). And we've rolled out a range of training webinars and materials to support you in getting the most out of your services with us.

During the last year, we were delighted to offer free water butts to all primary schools in Scotland. By recycling rainwater, children can learn more about the importance of saving water while we support each school in reaching their sustainability goals. 

And, following a remarkable uptake year-on-year, we doubled the size of our Water Efficiency Fund to £100,000 - enabling even more public sector organisations to deliver transformative water efficiency projects.

In November 2024, we hosted another round of Customer Listening Water Forums in four cities across the country, allowing an opportunity for us to hear from you about your water services priorities and challenges. This feedback and insight is invaluable and helps us make further improvements to our service delivery. You can find more information on some of the actions we’re taking as a result in this newsletter. 

We've also continued to build on our Fair Work Programme including signing up to Business in the Community's (BiTC) Race at Work Charter and developing our Foundation Apprenticeship Programme in partnership with further education experts, Limelight. And we've been working with our partners, including Career Ready, Powering Futures and Developing the Young Workforce, to support young people on their career paths. This year, we supported BiTC's job coaching programme to support job seekers, with eight of our colleagues volunteering to get involved.

It has been a fantastic first 12 months under the new Framework, and as we look forward to the next year, we remain committed to delivering savings and service enhancements to support your water needs, in addition to delivering social value benefits through our community benefits and Fair Work initatives.

Jo Dow

Chief Executive Officer

Price Increases | 2025/26

We recently got in touch to let you know about the upcoming changes to your water and waste water charges for 2025/26, which will be applied automatically to your bills from 1 April 2025.  

Following Scottish Water’s recent wholesale charges announcement, the wholesale element of your charges will increase. These charges are determined by Scottish Water and

agreed by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS). The Framework charges are linked to Scottish Water’s wholesale charges, and the default retail charges. Your charges for 2025/26 will increase by an average of 9.9%. 
 

You can now view all of your charges in the Scottish Government - Water and Wastewater billing services – Framework tariffs 2025/26 document by clicking the button below.

Water Forum | Feedback and actions taken

In December’s edition of the PSS Newsletter, we mentioned the useful feedback we received from those of you who were able to attend our November 2024 Water Forums. We listened to that feedback and so far, we’ve taken the following actions: 

You can set up enhanced, bespoke consumption reporting by requesting that we add specific criteria about your sites, for example, footfall, number of beds and floor area. You can read more about this change in the section below. Please get in touch with your Account Manager to find out more and to request a bespoke benchmarking report.

We're currently working to introduce functionality that will allow you to search by meter on your My Business Stream account.

We offer a range of ancillary services to support you in managing your water. We're working on communications to explain the services available, so we'll share more information soon. In the meantime, if you'd like more information, please speak to your Account Manager. 

In response to feedback, we're currently undertaking a review of our payment in advance (PIA) reconciliation process to make some improvements that will speed up and enhance your experience. 

These are just some of the actions we've taken following your feedback. There are more being worked on and we'll share more details soon. If you have any questions in relation to these changes, please get in touch with your Account Manager directly, who will be happy to help. We'd like to thank all of our public sector customers who provided valuable feedback that has enabled us to do more.

Power BI | Enhanced benchmark reporting

Great news! You can now request bespoke Power BI benchmarking reports on My Business Stream (MyBS).  

Our previous reporting only benchmarks consumption based on the rateable value of your sites, but we've now introduced new functionality that allows you to provide us with your own site-specific criteria 

for example, the footfall at your site, or the number of pupils at a school, which can be used to produce more comprehensive reports that will be of greater benefit to you. This allows you to compare water consumption across your sites and identify potential savings.

To find out more, and to request a bespoke benchmarking report, please get in touch with your Account Manager directly. 

My Business Stream feedback working group

We're delighted to be launching a new My Business Stream feedback working group in the new financial year. We'll invite our PSS customers and Business Stream colleagues to share their views on the current functionality, including areas that could be improved, and enhancements that could be made, to ensure we can support your organisation in a way that works for you. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, we'd love you to be involved. We'll be in touch during April to invite you to register your interest.

Our recent webinars

• Payment options | Payment in Advance (PIA) and discount - exploring PIA and enhanced discount payment options and PIA reconciliation 
• Automated meter reading (AMR) refresher - how to make the most of your AMR data 
• Climate Action Workshop - net zero and developing a carbon reduction plan 
• Water Efficiency Fund - a run through the application process for the next Fund which is coming in April 2025

To view recordings of any of our payment options , AMR and Water Efficiency Fund webinars, please visit our Useful Resources page by using the button below and go to the 'Videos' drop down. 

2025 Webinars

We'll be in touch in the new financial year to invite you to our upcoming webinars. If there are any topics you'd like us to cover for the year 2025/26, please let your Account Manager know.

Customer Satisfaction Survey | Coming in May

We'll soon be inviting you to take part in our next digital Customer Satisfaction Survey which will take place in May. We're working with an independent company, Dodds & Law Research Associates again this year to carry out the survey for our PSS customers. You'll receive an invite to take part from Dodds & Law Research Associates during May and we'll be in touch to let you know it's coming before you receive it.

Climate Action Workshop

As we get closer to the Scottish Government’s 2045 net zero target, the need to focus on action and delivering carbon reduction activities is intensifying. We recently hosted our first Climate Action Workshop, alongside Business in the Community, for our PSS customers, to provide the opportunity for our PSS customers to gain more insights around achieving net zero and practical ways you can both measure and reduce your emissions. 
 

The workshop covered: 

• an overview of greenhouse gas emissions and net zero 
• insight into the key elements that should be included within a carbon reduction plan 
• expert advice on actions you can take to start reducing your greenhouse gas emissions 
• an opportunity to understand and discuss key challenges and opportunities, and 
• insight into how water reduction can contribute to your carbon reduction activities. 

To view a copy of the slide deck used in the workshop, please click the button below and go to the 'Other' drop down.

First retailer in the industry to join a prestigious global sustainability network

We're delighted to have joined the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, supporting our commitment to sustainable practices.

Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with more than 15,000 companies and 3,500 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and more than 70 local networks.

By joining the network, we'll meet annual reporting requirements to demonstrate how we're supporting the delivery of the UNs Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, we'll have access to a range of tools, resources and expert-led training, as well as opportunities to collaborate with other members to share best practice and solutions.

Effective water management | Ancillary services

As part of our commitments under the Public Sector Scotland Framework, you have direct access to our team of experts who can provide a wide range of services from infrastructure activity, such as new connections, to educational support like water efficiency programmes.

Our ancillary services will help to save you money, reduce water usage and reduce carbon while supporting the Scottish Government’s circular economy objectives and targets. 

Our project management team will manage any project, no matter how big or small, from conception to completion. We'll work with you to find ways to reduce your water use while supporting your environmental goals and cutting your overall costs.

Ancillary service funding options, including Gainshare, are available. Please speak to your Account Manager for more information.

Scottish Water's campaign | Nature Calls

We’re proud to have partnered with Scottish Water to support their bid to protect nature, communities and the planet by banning wipes made with plastic. And as part of this, we’re promoting their ‘Nature Calls’ campaign. 

An update on our Modern Apprentices

Back in September we let you know that we'd welcomed five new Modern Apprentices (MAs): Millie, Matthew, Preston, Ross and Abi. We're delighted with how well they've been doing as they work towards the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) while learning all about the world of work. 

All of our MAs have shown amazing potential, with some even nominated by colleagues across the business to receive our monthly Make a Positive Difference award. They'll be with us until August, and we can't wait to see what lies ahead in their career journeys.

Payment deadlines

If you're on our standard 30-day payment terms, please ensure any outstanding bills are paid in full by Monday, 31 March. You can view and download all of your latest bills on My Business Stream. If your need any assistance please contact your Account Manager.

Getting in touch

We’re keen to find out what you’d like to see featured in our upcoming newsletters so please get in touch with your ideas, we’d love to hear from you.

If you have any questions about your account, please speak to your Account Manager or Case owner. You can also call us or send an email using the buttons below.