Julie Hilling, Labour MP for Bolton West, yesterday made an impassioned plea for a national social tariff to ensure deprived regions did not lose out.
In a debate on the Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill, which enables a £50 a year rebate to each South West household, she said urgent action was needed on the broader issue of water poverty.
“In the north-west of England, the affordability of water is based on deprivation rather than on historical or geographical issues,” she said. “Based on Ofwat’s analysis, once households in South West Water’s region receive their proposed £50 bill reduction, affordability problems will be more severe in the North West than in the South West.”
Too many customers in the North West are in financial need to make cross-subsidy work within water company United Utilities’ boundaries, she added.
“I am not against support for water customers in the south-west, and I absolutely agree that it is unacceptable in 2012 for the Thames – the major river in our capital city – regularly to be flooded with sewage. However, it is also not acceptable in 2012 that hard-working people in my constituency are having to beg for food, or that they are spending more than 5% of their income on water bills.”
Kate Green, Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, urged government to learn lessons from the energy sector on social tariffs.
She said: “The first and extremely important lesson is that a hands-off approach is not sufficient. If it is left to the industry alone to apply the sorts of tariffs that support low-income households, the result is poor protection for the poorest consumers.”