§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to provide that payments for water services to domestic properties should be by charges linked to the valuation bands used for the council tax.
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§ Mr. MacleanNo. It is for individual water companies to decide on their preferred system of charging for their services, subject to the overriding requirement, contained in their licence of appointment, that their charges do not show undue preference to, or unduly discriminate against, any class of customers or potential customers. Our consultation paper, "Using Water Wisely", sought comment on a proposal that water companies should not be able to link charges to the valuation bands for the council tax. They will not, after the year 2000, be able to use rateable values from the former rating system.