Services
SECR reporting
Test the scope.Build the figures.Say what happened.
In short
SECR applies to all quoted companies that prepare a directors' report, and to large unquoted companies and LLPs meeting two of three thresholds: turnover of £36m or more, a balance sheet total of £18m or more, and 250 or more employees. The disclosure covers UK energy use, Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, an intensity ratio, efficiency measures taken and the prior year for comparison.
What this does not do. A disclosure reports performance. It does not improve it. Reducing the figures is separate work, and we will tell you which measures would actually do it.
Who this is for
Finance teams preparing a directors' report, and property or facilities teams holding the consumption data behind it.
SECR sits inside the annual report, on a timetable set by the accounts rather than by the energy team. That is why it is usually started late, and why late usually means estimates.
The full threshold and disclosure detail is in the SECR sheet.
What we examine
- The entity structure and whether each company or LLP meets two of the three thresholds, and whether any entity is quoted.
- Electricity, gas and transport fuel consumption across the full reporting year, from meter data, invoices and mileage records.
- The emissions conversion factors for the correct reporting year, since a new set is published annually.
- The intensity metric options, so the one chosen reflects how the business actually scales.
- The efficiency measures carried out during the year, and whether they can be evidenced with numbers.
- Last year's disclosure, so the comparison and the methodology statement hold together.
The process
01
Test the scope
Each entity is tested against the SECR thresholds and, separately, against the ESOS test, in writing.
02
Assemble the data
A full year of electricity, gas and transport fuel is built from records rather than assembled the week before sign-off.
03
Calculate the emissions
Scope 1 and Scope 2 are calculated on the correct year's conversion factors, with the methodology recorded.
04
Choose the intensity ratio
The metric is chosen to reflect the business, so an improving business does not read as static and a real problem is not hidden.
05
Write the narrative
The efficiency section describes measures that actually happened, with figures attached. Where performance moved the wrong way, it says so and explains why.
06
Hand to the auditor
The disclosure and its working papers go to whoever prepares the directors' report, in a form they can check.
What you receive
A disclosure an auditor can follow: the data used, the date it was taken, the source it came from and the calculation applied to it.
- A written scope position for each entity, tested against SECR and against ESOS.
- The energy figures for the reporting year, with their sources named.
- Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, with the conversion factor set stated.
- The intensity ratio, with the reason it was chosen.
- Draft disclosure text for the directors' report, including the methodology statement.
- The working papers, so the figures can be checked without asking us.
What this does not do
- We do not sign your accounts or act as your auditor. We prepare the energy and carbon disclosure and the evidence behind it.
- Data that does not exist cannot be reconstructed. Where a period has to be estimated we label it as an estimate and show the basis.
- A disclosure is a report, not a reduction. Lowering the figures is separate work, and we will say which measures would do it.
The first review costs nothing. Anything after it is quoted and agreed in writing before it starts.
Questions
- Who has to report under SECR?
- Quoted companies of any size that prepare a directors' report, large unquoted companies meeting two of the three thresholds, and large LLPs meeting the same test. The thresholds are turnover of £36m or more, a balance sheet total of £18m or more, and 250 or more employees.
- Is there an exemption for low energy use?
- Yes. A low energy user exemption applies where consumption is below 40,000 kWh in the reporting period. The exemption still has to be stated in the report.
- Is SECR the same test as ESOS?
- No. SECR is two of three thresholds. ESOS is 250 or more employees on its own, or both financial thresholds together. Confusing the two is the commonest error in this area, and the same company can be inside one regime and outside the other.
- What has to be disclosed?
- UK energy consumption across electricity, gas and transport fuel, Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, at least one intensity ratio, a narrative of the efficiency measures taken during the year, the previous year's figures for comparison and the methodology used.
- Do we have to report Scope 3?
- Scope 3 is voluntary under SECR, although customers and lenders increasingly ask for it. We will tell you what is required and what is being asked for beyond that, and keep the two separate.
- What does SECR support cost?
- The initial review, which confirms whether you are in scope and what data you already hold, costs nothing. The reporting work is quoted and agreed in writing before it starts.
Read the detail
Related: ESOS Phase 4 compliance, all compliance work and energy monitoring.
How to check this
Each claim on this page is answered by something you can read for yourself. Nothing below states a figure; it names the document or register the claim is held against.
Point 01
We hold a Level 1 Letter of Authority only
The authority wording sets out what we may do with your data and states that we cannot sign a contract on your behalf. Read it before you sign it.
Point 02
How we are paid is agreed in writing before you sign
Our margin or management fee is stated in the terms that accompany a recommendation, and nothing is added afterwards.
Point 03
Every figure we quote carries a dated source document
Records state the figure, what it is measured against, the document it is taken from and the date on that document. Records still held anonymous are labelled as such.
Point 04
Compliance work is held against the current legislation
Each obligation is recorded with the rule it comes from and the deadline it carries, in an evidence pack an auditor can follow.
Point 05
We work to a published code of conduct
Our obligations as a third party intermediary, and what you can hold us to, are set out in full.
Ask about SECR
Put a question about the reporting duty and get a plain-English explanation drawn from what we already publish, with the source you can check named. It reads our compliance pages and sheets, and nothing else.
Answers come from published pages and are not a quotation, a contract or legal advice. Questions are recorded so we can see what buyers are asking, and are covered by our privacy notice. The first review costs nothing; anything after it is quoted and agreed in writing.