§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what consultations he has had with water companies and the Water Regulator about extending the scope of water metering to include homes which have undergone extensions and conversions since 1990. [80904]
§ Mr. MealeUnder the Water Industry Act 1991, water undertakers may fix charges by reference to such matters, and may adopt such methods and principles for the calculation and imposition of the charges, as appear to them to be appropriate. They therefore have considerable scope to extend metering to customers, including to those whose properties have been extended or converted since 1990.
However, clause 7 of the Water Industry Bill, currently before Parliament, would introduce a new right for households to remain on an unmeasured charge in their present homes, save where they are meeting certain conditions. My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment indicated during the Second Reading of the Bill, 7 December 1998, Official Report, column 46, that we envisaged the right to remain on an unmeasured charge would not apply where premises are used for commercial purposes, where there is a garden sprinkler or swimming pool use, where they have a power shower consuming more than 20 litres per minute or where there is use of a water-softening unit that requires backwashing.