Water Charging (Hansard, 1 April 1998)

§ Baroness Hayman

My right honourable friends the Secretary of State for Wales and the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions are publishing today water charging proposals. The driving principles behind our policy on water charging are to have a system which provides for fair water charges and gives customers more choice in the way they pay for water. That system has to look after vulnerable customers. It also has to help ensure that water is used efficiently. We propose four key measures:

(i) Those who currently pay on an unmeasured basis and use water only for essential domestic purposes should be able to continue to do so in their present home.
(ii) We should remove the threat of disconnection from domestic customers.
(iii) Domestic customers should have the choice of a meter, free of charge, if it suits their needs.
(iv) Targeted help should be available for consumers with special needs.

For the foreseeable future, the majority of customers will pay their water charges on an unmeasured basis. We remain firmly of the view that customers should not, in future, be obliged to start paying for water in their present home on a measured basis where they are not using significant amounts of water for non-domestic purposes like garden watering using a sprinkler. To allow this, we propose a change in the law to allow rateable value charging to continue beyond the year 2000.

We also propose to remove the powers of water companies to disconnect domestic water supplies in the event of non-payment. This will be particularly reassuring to those who are most vulnerable. Access to water is essential to the maintenance of general good health and well-being, and the water charging arrangements need to reflect that. Of course, water companies are entitled to be paid for the services they provide, but other debt recovery procedures are available to them. Our concern about public health demands that we maintain the flow of water supplies to households in all circumstances.

Measured charges may, in the right circumstances, encourage individual customers to use water efficiently. Some consumers, such as single people or pensioners in larger properties, will see an advantage in moving to a measured charging basis for their bills. We propose that in future customers should have the choice to have a meter fitted, free of charge. But those who choose a meter should also have the opportunity to revert to an 47WA unmeasured charging basis within a year if metering does not suit their needs.

Companies should draw up imaginative new tariffs which increase customer choice. Those should bring benefits to customers who have not previously seen any point in being metered. And tariffs can also be designed to give customers strong incentives to economise on water for discretionary purposes without discouraging essential use. It must be for the companies to take the lead in developing such tariffs, but we look to the regulator to see that they do so. In particular, we see a strong case for ending standing charges for metered customers, which can be a particular problem for people on low incomes with low water use.

For new homes, and those substantially altered since 1990, there are no rateable values. We do not believe that any of the unmeasured charging options for these homes are attractive. We therefore propose that metering should continue to be the normal charging method. But we will consider constructive proposals for alternative charging options which consultees wish to put forward, including possible unmeasured options for new houses.

A particular concern of this Government is the position of vulnerable customers. So we propose that households on low incomes, particularly large families, and those with special medical needs who live in houses with a metered supply should have the right to opt for a charge based on average use rather than their actual meter reading. This should provide targeted and effective assistance to the groups who could be most disadvantaged as a result of metering.

Copies of the Government's consultation paper, Water Charging in England and Wales—A New Approach, on which responses have been requested by 14 May, have been placed in the Library of the House.

Table 1: Government estate: energy efficiency performance¹
	Energy Expenditure² £	Own investment in energy efficiency² £	Percentage reduction relative to 1990–91³ (positive figures represent per cent, improvement} Total cost at standard prices adjusted for estate and weather changes
Civil Departments, including Agencies	1995–96	1996–97	1995–96	1996–97	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97
MAFF—"Main estate"⁴	1,570,035	1,607,392	500,000	344,000	-1	3	-4	-2	11	14
MAFF—Laboratories⁴	2,092.068	1,195,120	330,000	124,000	-12	-19	-24	-29	-25	6
Cabinet Office	499,165	703,573	325,000	0	-14	0	5	8	15	4
Culture, Media & Sport¹⁰	75,414	82,888	1,000	0	—	—	—	—	-7	-16
Customs & Excise	3,046.638	3,476,954	300,000	90,500	2	14	10	14	20	11
Education and Employment	1.464,230	1,337,963	45,700	294,650	-2	-20	-10	-15	-9	-17
Employment Service	7,021,412	6,820,622	1,132,524	0	4	4	8	9	2	0
Environment⁵	1,375,987	1,228,381	87,116	37,200	8	13	9	14	16	7
Environment—HSE⁶	754,812	667,458	144,564	0	5	-4	-1	-28	15	20
Enviornment—QEIICC^{2. 6}	464.473	291,715	0	0	-17	-16	-14	-8	-6	-1
FCO	834,208	920,989	30,000	21,754	-3	7	-9	-10	-14	-21
Health⁷	801,192	722,641	117,000	31,500	-13	0	-98	-83	-54	-46
Home Office	2,012,161	2,051,873	0	0	-8	-8	-8	-7	-2	1
Home Office—Prisons²	18,141,743	24,257,826	1,200,000	0	2	-4	-3	-8	0	1
Inland Revenue	9,054,230	8,256,246	567,744	250,000	1	2	6	12	16	16
International Development⁹	372.396	212,935	158,000	0	—	-4	0	3	11	35
Lord Chancellor's Department	5,889,680	5,301,610	0	0	0	3	9	9	12	14
National Savings	1,043,471	921,999	951,717	620,485	3	8	12	17	19	24
Northern Ireland	11,107,276	9,012,943	870,000	313,000	1	2	5	9	13	10