Cornwall ‘Still feeling the sting’ of water privatisation as SWW nets
Cornwall’s five MPs today (Thursday) called for a ‘root and branch reform’ of water charging in Britain as South West Water once again announced record profits.
In its preliminary results for the last financial year South West Water’s parent company, Pennon Group Plc, has published a gross profit of £201.8m, up 14.2% on last year, for which South West Water’s profits accounted £156.8m, an increase of nearly eleven per cent.
Water bills in the South West are the highest in the country, this year averaging £480, and £650 for unmetered users, compared to the £275 average in London.
The five-strong team of Liberal Democrat MPs has welcomed moves by South West Water to help their poorest customers save on water bills but say that the measures are merely tacking round the edges of what is a systemic problem.
Liberal Democrats have proposed an equalisation system for the United Kingdom, so that a small, poor proportion of the population in the South West does not pay a third of the cost of Britain’s coastal cleanup. Adrian Sanders, Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay, recently put legislation to the House of Commons which would have seen water bills capped at 3% of household income but Ministers failed to support the plan.
Commenting, North Cornwall’s MP, Dan Rogerson said:
“People will understandably be outraged at the profits gushing into South West Water shareholders’ pockets while help for the poorest customers comes along in a grudging trickle.
“That said, a privatised system was always going to be about profit not people and about margins not service. The Conservatives are spending a lot of time junking old policy but they cannot get away from the ruinous legacy they left to Cornish water customers. Water privatisation was a slap in the face for Cornwall – and our constituents are still feeling the sting.”
While the government refuses to contemplate country-wide redistribution of costs, Cornwall’s MPs are campaigning for a more affordable local tariff system to ensure ordinary families and pensioners have their bills cut. Metered households in the South West would pay a low rate for the basic amount of water that they needed, depending on how many people lived in the house. They would then pay a higher rate for any additional water, for example to have a swimming pool or do a lot of car cleaning.
Second homeowners, who tend to pay the lowest metered bills despite greatly benefiting from the region’s beaches, would also be identified to ensure they make a fair contribution towards the costs of environmental clean up.
Truro and St Austell MP, Matthew Taylor added:
“These profits are a stark reminder of huge burden of water rates in Cornwall, which are unfair on everyone and quite frankly cripple low income families, pensioners and bill payers with disabilities. 3% of the total population have been paying for 30% of the beach clean-up, and in the poorest part of the country no less.
“Reforming the tariff system has the support of the Liberal Democrats, the Consumer Council for Water, and South West Water itself. – it’s time for the Government to stop dragging its feet!”
