Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Lord Watts

Thursday 30th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

2. What plans she has to reduce water bills.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Elizabeth Truss)]

Ofwat will announce its current price review in December. The draft determinations indicate that average water bills in England and Wales will fall by up to 5% in real terms from 2015 to 2020. This will mean lower bills for hard-working taxpayers as part of our long-term economic plan.

[Mr Watts]

I thank the Secretary of State for her reply, but is it not the case that the Government have allowed water companies to boost their profits by 12% while average households have lost 5% of income? When will the Government stand up to the fat cat water bosses?

[Elizabeth Truss]

If we look at how much water bills rose under Labour, we see that from 1999 to 2009 bills went up by 20%. Under the new tough regulation of Ofwat, we are seeing a potential reduction of up to 5%, meaning lower bills for consumers, more investment in the water industry, and cleaner rivers and beaches.