Following an email from South West Water Sheryll Murray MP has called on South West Water to look at what savings could be made to reduce water prices in the South West.
The email states that “From April 1, the average annual household bill for water and sewerage services in the region is expected to increase by 5.1% to £517. Charges paid by customers will vary according to the services they receive, their tariff and water usage in the case of metered customers.”
In a statement Sheryll said, “I am very aware of the important work that South West Water undertake especially in light of the flooding problems that happened last year. However I do feel that there are also savings which can be made and I am asking South West Water to look at this again and try to reduce or preferably eliminate this increase.
“I am writing to both the water company and the Minister Richard Benyon MP to see what steps can be taken immediately to reduce this burden on hard pressed families in the South West. I want them to take a close look at the accounts to see if these savings can be found and particularly at the top end of remunerations and at the levels of profits and dividends.
“I have already had assurances that the Government is committed to reforming the water industry to deliver affordable and sustainable water for all households and businesses in the future – and will be coming forward with proposals. They have promised to consult on proposals to provide more help to vulnerable and low income households who qualify for the WaterSure ‘safety net’ tariff. In the South West, this means qualifying households could see reductions in their bills from £486 a year to about £305 a year. In the SW, this would apply to 8,500 qualifying households based on current levels of metering and take-up. It would be paid for by raising the average charge on households across England from around 35p a year to 48p.
Ends
For further information please contact Sheryll Murray’s office on 01579 344428
Additional Information
· The WaterSure programme acts as a ‘safety net’ for metered households in receipt of qualifying means-tested benefits or tax credits with either three or more children under the age of 19 or where a member of the household has a medical condition which means they need to use a lot of water (for example a weeping skin disease such as eczema). This year, 31,200 households in England and Wales are benefitting from WaterSure.
· Currently, recipients of WaterSure have their bills capped at the level of the average bill for their water company. This means that WaterSure recipients can still face high bills if they live in an area where bills are relatively high, notably the South West. Under the new proposals, bills will be capped at the national average metered bill (currently £305) if this is lower than the average bill for their company’s area.
· Under the Government’s proposal, around 8,500 households in the South West currently on Watersure could see their bills fall by about £180 p/a by 2013.
· Under the Government’s proposal, around 1,300 households in Wessex currently on Watersure could see their bills fall by about £100 p/a by 2013.
· All households can investigate whether they would save money with a water meter by using the free Consumer Council for Water meter calculator: http://www.ccwater.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.388.
· The Government will consult soon on proposals to ensure a more efficient use of water and the protection of poorer households following the Walker report’s recommendations. The forthcoming Water White Paper will set out the Government’s policy.