As we enter 2018 the water industry is confronted with the challenge of improving its legitimacy in the eyes of consumers and politicians, after a bruising 12 months of intense public scrutiny.
Next month water companies have a golden opportunity to show their intent when they announce their charges schemes for 2018/19. With inflation (RPI) at its highest level for six years, companies can demonstrate they are on the side of more than 3 million households who already tell us their water bills are unaffordable. They can do this by choosing not to take the full increase in charges their price limits and inflation allows. Or they could use some of their additional revenue from increasing bills to boost the availability of social tariff schemes.
These largely customer-funded schemes offer a precious lifeline of lower bills for cash-strapped households. But more funding is urgently needed to bolster their reach and impact. Companies have the power to do this by dipping into their own deep pockets.
One of the reasons the water industry finds itself under intense scrutiny is its history of financial outperformance. Large windfalls for company shareholders have come at the expense of higher than necessary bills for customers. Inflation has been a significant factor in this but companies have the opportunity to start to redress the balance.
In February we’ll be publishing new analysis of water companies’ financial performance in 2016/17 and challenging outperformers to use some of their gains to benefit their customers.
Financial assistance for customers struggling to pay their bills would be a good place to start.