§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table setting out the annual increases in charges by regional water authorities over the last five years.
§ Mr. Giles ShawIt is not possible to establish a satisfactory measure which shows the average percentage increase in water authority charges for non-domestic consumers. The following table shows annual percentage increases in the water services bill to domestic consumers for the last five years.
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Water Authority Financial Year 1977–78 per cent. 1978–79 per cent. 1979–80 per cent. 1980–81 per cent. 1981–82 per cent. North West 8.3 8.1 9.5 23.4 16.9 Northumbrian −16.0 4.9 5.9 23.6 17.3 Severn-Trent −1.7 0.8 12.7 20.9 15.9 Yorkshire 5.2 7.8 10.5 24.5 16.7 Anglian 6.1 2.4 8.4 29.0 19.2 Thames 4.1 18.2 11.4 23.8 13.9 Southern 11.0 4.4 3.8 29.2 18.4 Wessex 7.6 4.5 21.0 14.4 11.4 South West 6.3 2.9 9.8 22.3 12.7 Wales 7.3 −6.4 9.8 22.9 15.3 National Average 3.9 5.5 10.5 23.8 15.7 The water services bill consists of charges for water supply, sewerage and environmental services.