Water: Prices

(asked on 5th December 2023) - View Source

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 Ofwat has made of the affordability of water bills for pensioners living in poverty.


Answered by
Robbie Moore Portrait
Robbie Moore
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 12th December 2023

Affordability of water bills is an important area of focus for Ofwat as customers are at the heart of its regulatory activity. Water companies are tasked with providing support to customers that are financially struggling and Ofwat is continuing to push companies to provide prompt, accessible support to the customers that need it most.

Ofwat also monitors the experiences of bill payers through its cost-of-living survey, including how customers respond to changes in water bills. This includes information on older people without private pensions, and those struggling to pay bills.

Ofwat expect water companies to do everything they can to support all customers who are vulnerable, in debt or struggling to pay. In so doing, it will continue to work closely with the Consumer Council for Water who also have an important role in the provision of affordability support for consumers, including having regard to the interests of individuals of pensionable age.

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