WATER BILLS SET TO SURGE EVERY YEAR
HOUSEHOLDS in Glasgow are set to see a rise in their water charge every year for the next 20 years. There is a plan to escalate the price by two per cent above inflation every year for the next 20 years.
It would mean bills in every band would double over the 20 years.
In Glasgow it would mean a council tax band A home would see its bills rise by £95 over the next six years, rising from £298 this year to £393 in 2026/27 and gradually to £654 in 2040.
For band D homes, in the middle of the council tax scale, the increase would be £141, going up from £448 to £589 and then to £981 in 2040.
Band E would rise by £173 after six years, from £547 to £720, and then to £1200.
At the top of the scale in band H, the increase would be £283, going up from £896 to £1179-a-year and eventually to £1963 after 20 years.
The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) produced projections of the cost increase over six years and over the full 20-year period.
It calculated the average bill would increase by £117 over the first six years and would more than double over the 20 years increasing by £443 to £815.
Scottish Water said the increases were necessary to maintain ageing infrastructure and delaying the rise would mean bigger increases in the future.
Scottish Labour has said it will put many families into a cost-ofliving crisis.
And campaigners said the scale of the have 20-year
increase cannot be to go ahead and called intervention.
Jackie Baillie, interim Labour leader, said: “Thousands of Scottish families are facing a cost-ofliving crisis and are struggling to make ends meet.
“It is grossly irresponsible that they will be hit in the pocket to allowed for government pay for the failings government.”
Sean Clerkin, housing campaigner, said: “The Scottish Government is arguing there will be mitigation for people on benefits but that still means they will have to pay 65% of their water bills. Water poverty will increase massively with these price increases.”
He said he was “urging the Scottish Government to stop these water price hikes given the genuine financial hardship increasing numbers of people are finding themselves in due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath”.
A spokesman for Scottish Water said there was public support for necessary investment.
He said: “The increase in charges follows extensive customer research which found that customers are against delaying necessary investment in vital water and waste water infrastructure that will result in higher increases in future.
“The charge increase will support investment necessary to maintain water quality and service standards despite ageing water and waste water assets and the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.
“Over the last 10 years domestic water and waste water charges have been reduced by ten percent in real terms and they are now among the lowest in Great Britain.” of the Scottish