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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for the WaterSure scheme.

WaterSure is the only national tariff for which Government sets the criteria, it is intended to help customers on low incomes with unavoidably high water usage who may otherwise struggle to pay their water bill. To be eligible for WaterSure, customers must be in receipt of means tested benefits, which provides an appropriate measure for assessing income, and have either three or more children under 19 or a medical condition requiring the extra use of water.

A post implementation review of The Water Industry (Charges) (Vulnerable Groups) (Consolidation) Regulations 2015, carried out in 2020 concluded that no changes to the Regulations were required. The Consumer Council for Water’s Independent Review of Water Affordability, published in 2021, did not recommend any changes to WaterSure’s eligibility criteria, rather changes to how companies administer the scheme.