Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a national social tariff for water bills.

The Government is working with industry to keep support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported. We will look at ways to drive more consistency across the schemes and increase awareness of the support consumers can access.

Water Companies offer a range of support schemes for customers struggling to afford their bills, including: social tariffs, WaterSure, debt support schemes, financial hardship funds, flexible payment plans and payment breaks. The Government expects industry to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers across the country are supported.