Labour can stand up for a fairer deal by demanding greater responsibility in the water industry, writes Mary Creagh

Rising energy bills and petrol prices are putting the squeeze on families at a time of higher living costs and lower wages. But there is also an emerging crisis of water affordability. At the beginning of April, water bills went up by an average of 5.7 per cent or about £20 a year. Ofwat estimates that one in 10 households currently spend more than five per cent of their income on water and sewage. That is 2.26 million households across England and Wales, including 990,000 single adults, 73,000 pensioners and 540,000 families with children.

Labour’s Flood and Water Management Act allowed for both national social tariffs (set by government) and company social tariffs (introduced by water companies) to help households facing difficulty paying their water bills. The government has since dragged its feet on social tariffs, even saying ‘water companies can choose whether to introduce’ them or not. The government’s mini water industry bill, rushed through parliament over two days in March, will make a £50 annual payment to households in the south-west to reduce their water bills. The bill also provides government finance for the construction of the Thames sewage tunnel. This mini-bill makes it likely that Defra ministers will not have a full water bill in May’s Queen’s speech, meaning laws to tackle drought and the unsustainable removal of water from rivers will probably now not appear until 2013 at the earliest.

The south-west is a classic case study of botched privatisation. When the Tories privatised the water industry in 1989 it was supposed to be a new start for the industry. But it created South West Water, which covers just three per cent of the population, and made it responsible for cleaning up 30 per cent of England’s coastline. As our two Labour MPs in the region, Alison Seabeck and Ben Bradshaw, have pointed out, this left households with the highest unmetered bills in the country – at a staggering £543 on average.

Labour supported the mini water bill and help for the south-west, but the bill does nothing for households elsewhere. We need leadership from government to set basic standards for water social tariffs to ensure that people do not fall into debt. Labour will oblige water companies to deliver a social tariff scheme which meets clear, uniform criteria. We also want strong action on tackling bad debt which adds £15 a year to everyone’s bill. If we get bad debt down, water companies can recycle some of that money to households in need, without putting prices up. Getting landlords to share their tenants’ details with the water companies would be a start in driving it down. Labour prevented water companies from cutting people off but we also need to ensure that those who are able to pay do so and that those who choose not to pay are tracked down, to stop their bad debt being paid by the responsible majority

Even when there is less money around, we can still make Britain fairer, stand up for the ‘squeezed middle’ and offer help to those in need.

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Mary Creagh MP is the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs

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Photo: Joe Shlabotnik