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Water Watchdog Gives Ofwat Seven Out Of 10 For Water Deal - But Is Concerned About Impact For Some Customers
26/11/2009
By Lea Pachta
The Consumer Council for Water today has given Ofwat a mark of seven out of 10 for its final decisions on water price limits in England and Wales from 2010 to 2015.
While there is some good news for water customers as on average bills will remain about the same, the watchdog is concerned that Ofwat has eased off on water companies' efficiency targets - causing higher bills for some water customers.
Ofwat has announced that, before taking inflation into account, average bills will remain broadly flat for most customers across England and Wales, with the average annual water and sewerage bill moving from £343 to £340 by 2015.
The prices announced vary from company to company, so depending on where they live, customers will face a range of price changes from a reduction in average annual bills by as much as seven per cent, to an increase in bills of 13 per cent before inflation.
Customers of companies such as Essex and Suffolk Water (13%), Bristol Water (7%), Southern Water (5%) and Thames Water (3%) will all see rises in average bills. South West Water customers without a meter could see a 29 per cent rise in bills.
Today's announcement suggests that Ofwat was arguably unrealistic in its draft decisions back in July when it suggested that average bills would fall by £14. At this point, eight out of ten customers told the Consumer Council for Water that this deal would be acceptable.
However, Ofwat had left out some important elements of customers' priorities such as reducing the risk of sewer flooding; maintaining pipes, sewers and treatment works; securing safe, reliable water for the future, and reducing leakage. The Consumer Council for Water lobbied the regulator hard to include these priorities - improvements which could have been made while still... continued on page two >
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