Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse ...water bills to soar too

SCOTLAND’S cost of living crisis is set to deepen after a hike in water bills was announced yesterday.

Water charges, which are paid as part of council tax bills, will soar by 4.2 per cent from April.

The move, which will add up to £38 onto bills, is another hammer blow for struggling families who are already facing soaring energy costs and rising interest rates.

It comes as the First Minister is under growing pressure to ensure households benefit directly from a £290million windfall from Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

To help tackle the financial crisis facing families, he announced a £200 ‘rebate’ on energy bills for people across the UK to take the sting out of the price cap rising to nearly £2,000.

But his other key measure of a £150 council tax rebate for people in Band A-D properties applies only in England as local authority funding is devolved to Holyrood.

Mr Sunak’s move generated an extra £290million of funding for the Scottish Government but, while Nicola Sturgeon has committed to the money being spent on tackling the cost of living crisis, she has failed to guarantee that it will be used to cut tax bills.

Scottish Tory finance spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘Instead of promising to pass on the extra cash so that local authorities can reduce council tax bills by £150, the SNP appear to be trying to muddy the waters.

‘The extra £290million for Scotland must be passed directly to councils and the tax cut matched pound for pound – it’s as straightforward as that.’

Scottish Water confirmed that its charges, which already raise nearly £1billion a year, will rise by 4.2 per cent from April.

This will add £19 on to a Band D bill, which will rise to £478.44, while a more expensive Band H property will see its bill soar from £918.36 to £956.88.

Scottish Water said the increase will pay for more investment to tackle climate change, reduce carbon emissions and safeguard supplies. But Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘Enough is enough.

‘The SNP have the power to do something about this and are choosing to put up bills.

‘Scottish Water is sitting on hundreds of millions of pounds of reserves while putting up the bills. The Scottish Government must stand up for the interests of customers and cap these rising costs.

‘There is an SNP majority in Holyrood and the SNP have more Scottish MPs than any other party. They can no longer blame someone else for their failures.’

Last night, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said she would make an announcement next week confirming how much extra money households will receive.

Councils are due to set their budgets for the 2022/23 financial year in the coming weeks, which will include decisions on whether to increase council tax charges.

In her Budget, Miss Forbes lifted the previous 4.8 per cent cap on increases that they can impose.