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

To ask His Majesty's Government what modelling they have undertaken on how many households will fall into water poverty between 2025-2030 due to Ofwat's price control resulting in a 36% increase in average household water bills over this period; and what steps they are taking to mitigate this.

Water companies must submit their estimated water poverty levels as part of their Price Review 24 business plan. From these projections we expect around 1 million households to be in water poverty by 2030. The Water Servies Regulation Authority (Ofwat) will publish a Cost-of-Living Report on affordability challenges this summer.

We expect all water companies to support customers struggling to pay their bills including more than doubling the number of customers receiving social tariffs. We will continue to take action to ensure the most vulnerable are protected from rising bills. As part of this, this Government is undertaking reforms to the statutory support scheme WaterSure.