CORNISH MPs CALL FOR URGENT GOVERNMENT ACTION ON RISING WATER BILLS

10.00.00am GMT Fri 22nd Feb 2008

Urgent Government action on Cornwall's rocketing water bills is critical warn local MPs following today's (Friday) announcement that rates are yet again set to rise.

Bills for 2008/9 will see households with water meters, accounting for two thirds of users, paying £397 on average, up 5.6% on last year. Remaining unmetered users will face an even bigger rise under Ofwat rules of 8.7%, paying a whopping £686 on average, compared to the average £304 bill in London (metered and unmetered). Local water bills are the highest in the country despite incomes being amongst the lowest.

News of the price hike comes just weeks after the Government published its new water strategy which promises to tackle unaffordability. In December Ministers agreed to investigate a fairer charging system after meeting with Cornwall's MPs, and the month before South West Water pledged to work to curb rate increases.

Ofwat, the water regulator, is also currently reviewing requirements on the water companies and the resulting amounts they will be allowed to charge over the next few years.

Cornwall's bill burden is the direct result of the Conservative Party's privatisation of water which landed South West customers with the huge cost of cleaning up raw sewage outfalls across the region. Cornwall's MPs have in the past proposed solutions to Ministers and the water regulator that would lower bills through fairer tariffs, particularly for vulnerable groups including pensioners and families on low incomes. They are now calling on the Government to urgently implement reforms to bring down Cornwall's unsustainable water rates.

Commenting, Truro & St Austell MP Matthew Taylor said:

"The only real solution to Cornwall's unbelievable water bills is for a fairer redistribution of the high costs of maintaining the South West's coastline, which accounts for around a third of the country's coast and yet is paid for by just 3% of the population, and the poorest 3% at that. This is the job of the Government and the regulator, who have consistently failed to act while local people suffer sky-high bills year on year.

"Long-term mechanisms for a fairer system of water charging need to be put in place, and it is imperative that Ministers act now to help cut these bills. Too many families have been driven into spiralling debt already."

North Cornwall's MP, Dan Rogerson, added:

"Ever since the botched Conservative privatisation of the water industry, we have explained to Ministers that they could lower bills through affordable tariffs and a fairer contribution towards the national coastal clean-up from the rest of the country. Second home owners, too, should pay more since they very often benefit from the lowest bills yet enjoy the beaches more than anyone else.

"Shockingly, the Government's answer seems to be simply to stick everyone on a meter and leave it at that, even though this alone would do nothing to solve the problem in Cornwall where local metered and unmetered users alike are paying hundreds and hundreds of pounds more than wealthier parts of the country."