§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment736W she has made of the number of people affected by water poverty in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) North Staffordshire. [89676]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government do not have a quantitative definition for the term 'water poverty', and so no assessment has been made.
Table A, which has been placed in the Library, is drawn from the DSS Family Resources Survey. This is the most recent available compiled information showing the relationship between water and sewerage bills and household incomes in England, and covers the years 1994–95 to 1998–99. The survey does not break the results down by region.
The housing statistics division of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have used these data to compile figures on 'water affordability'as one of the Government's Sustainable Development Indicators. For illustrative purposes, this exercise used 3 per cent. as the affordability threshold for proportion of income spent on water charges. A chart of these figures covers the years 1994–95 to 1997–98.