Increase for water
Water charges for Lanarkshire householders will increase by five per cent from April.
It means residents will pay between £334.86 in band A properties and £1004.58 for those in band H for combined water supply and waste water treatment services.
The fee is collected alongside council tax – and Scottish Water has warned that the cost is“likely to rise” again in the future to meet the requirement for“significant” upgrades and investment.
Officials say the cost equates to“an average rise of 37 pence per week”, and that the same five per cent increase will also apply to licensed providers supplying businesses and other non-domestic customers.
Lanarkshire residents will find out their combined domestic bills this month after the area’s two local authorities have determined their council tax rates.
The water increase is set after referring to last October’s CPI inflation figure of 11.1 per cent, and will see band D properties across Scotland pay £502.29 for the utility in the year ahead.
Scottish Water chief executive Douglas Millican said:“The charges for 2023-24 have been set at a level which recognises the need for significant future investment to protect services, and the current economic challenges faced by many.
“Our core services play a vital role in the daily lives of millions of people in Scotland, and our responsibility as a publicly-funded body is providing excellent service and water quality, and reducing our impact on the environment.
“Charge levels in the future are likely to rise to meet our strategic objectives, meet the needs of our customers and to transform services so they become as environmentally and financially-sustainable as possible.”
Announcing the rate increase – which follows last year’s 4.2 per cent rise – the utility provider added: “Further significant increased investment is needed in the coming years to deal with ageing infrastructure and the impacts of the changing climate.”
Mr Millican said in 2022 that “charges will need to increase further in future years”, explaining then: “Higher levels of investment are needed to protect services, particularly in meeting the challenges of more intense rainfall, flooding and drought, and reducing carbon emissions.”
Scottish Water serves 2.6 million households across the country, supplying more than 1.5 billion litres of water per day and treating more than a billion litres of used and surface water.