Down the Plughole: why is our water so expensive? PDF Print E-mail
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Factbox - Andrew George

Andrew George, MP for St Ives, has been working alongside his fellow Lib Dem MPs to get to the bottom of South West Water’s rising rates, and has described the company as ‘a risk free money extortion system’.

He talked to Cornish World about his findings and how they plan to tackle the issue.

“The issue of Cornwall’s high water bills goes back to privatisation in 1992, under Tory government. In effect, this created a privatised monopoly.

“The sewage clean-up costs in a place with the geography of Cornwall and Devon are much more expensive than in other parts of the country.

“But a statistic which is often repeated is that, within the south west, we have 30 per cent of the UK’s flagged beaches but just three per cent of the country’s population footing the bill for their clean up.

“While I agree with European directive for clean bathing water, it’s putting financial pressure on a very small population.

“We believe the south west’s beautiful beaches and coastline are a national resource – therefore shouldn’t the costs of this clean up be shared nationally?

“We are working on proposals for water equalisation. This would involve all water-rate payers paying into a national pot which could be split evenly.

“There are lots of second home owners who, because their water meter indicates they use less water, pay next to nothing to maintain the coastline they come down to enjoy.

“Instead, this is paid for by people who are paying the largest water bills – often single, elderly people on very low income who are not metered.

“South West Water customers have always paid bills far in excess of the next nearest privatised company, and many of its poorest customers pay up to eight per cent of their income in water charges.

“I see OFWAT, South West Water’s regulator, as a relatively toothless entity. We are calling on ministers to look at the powers of OFWAT and its ability to scrutinise and constrain the activities of this company.”
 
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