Five year plan should see water bills falling
Fall in real terms after inflation factored in
BOSSES at water company Severn Trent are expecting water bills to fall between now and 2025.
They have drawn up a five year plan running from 2020 to 2025 including an approximately five per cent drop in water bills once inflation is taken into account.
They predict the average water bill in 2025 will be £327.
That compares with an average of bill £348 expected in 2018 to 2019.
Fixing leaks to sewage and water pipes, educational visits to primary schools, help for customers struggling with bills, improvements to rivers and donations to community schemes are also part of the five year plan.
And Severn Trent bosses say they will tackle the problem of traces of lead in school water pipes along with setting up a Technical Academy.
Liv Garfield, Severn Trent Chief Executive, said: “We haven’t created our plan in isolation – we’ve carried out the biggest ever consultation with our customers and stakeholders to find out what really matters to them and have then produced this plan which we absolutely believe will improve our service and our legacy for future generations.
“That means that, at a time when prices are going up, our customers’ bills will be coming down, we’ll help more vulnerable customers than ever before, and we’ll invest billions of pounds to make our service even better.
“By doing this, and by improving the day-to-day ser- vice we offer even in those areas where we’re already sector leaders, we firmly believe our customers will be served better, our environment protected, and future generations educated about the importance of water as a precious resource.”
Other water companies are expecting larger percentage falls in their five year plans. Bosses at United Utilities which serves the north west are promising reductions of 10.5 per cent and South West Water bosses have pledged an 11 per cent cut.
A spokesperson for Severn Trent said: “Our customers have the lowest average combined bills in Britain and have done since 2008.
“Subject to Ofwat changes, we expect that to continue all the way to 2025, which would be 17 years of Severn Trent customers having the lowest bills in England and Wales (Scottish Water operate under a different regime so we don’t know about their long-term plans for bills yet).
“So that’s all the clean water that our customers need, together with taking away all of their waste water, for less than £1 a day.
“South West customers currently pay an average of £491 a year so, even with a greater percentage fall in bills, they’ll still be paying considerably more than Severn Trent customers for their water services.
“United Utilities customers currently pay an average of £435 a year for their water services so, again, Severn Trent customers will be paying considerably less for their water services even though the bills are falling more as a percentage.”