Maintaining your approval – what are the things that a CP needs to do?
The journey doesn’t end once you have achieved your approval, it really is the beginning.
The Direction requires your Approval Body to continue to monitor the performance against the agreed measurement targets, you must provide those performance stats to your AB monthly and continue working to minimise errors and spikes in adjustment. You need to remain below the agreed targets & thresholds, as agreed with your Approval Body and recorded in your MSD. You need to maintain performance and minimise the risk of errors leading to overbilling through continual improvement.
The OBAPM needs to work with all relevant areas of the business to understand the impact of change, monitor the risks and provide guidance on compliance to the Direction.
When bill impacting incidents occur they must be reported to your Approval Body within the timeframes set out in the Direction. Working closely with your AB to assess incidents, ensure that corrective actions are recorded, monitored and any adjustments & refunds are completed within the required timeframes. You will need to perform Root Cause Analysis, have preventative measures to ensure non reoccurrence, demonstrate the efforts/evidence to minimise customer impact.
You will have an agreed audit plan/schedule and start a reapproval cycle. Each of the areas must be audited by your AB at least once during the reapproval cycle, the higher risk areas may be audited multiple times during this period.
Where findings are raised by your Approval Body (CAT 1or2) these should be resolved within agreed timeframes
The aim is to continue to minimise customer harm and bill accurately.
Remember section 5.1 of the Direction states – The CP shall provide the AB with access to all people, locations, Equipment and data necessary to establish compliance with this Direction.