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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to make smart metering mandatory in the water sector.

Water companies already have the ability to charge by water meters on a mandatory basis in areas designated water stressed. This is only able to feature in water companies’ long-term plans if it represents value for money and has customer support.

The Government has committed to working with Ofwat to assess the recommendations from a report led by Baringa on the current approach including exploring mandatory standards for smart meter rollouts. This will reduce leakage and enable customers to have more data to make water and cost-efficient choices.