Found: on timelines, but I want to be respectful to the Chair—we are looking forward to bringing the Water Bill

Found: The water bill payer will therefore end up paying for the waste disposal of companies that are making

Found: on the support that is available: Ofwat indicated 20% of people are struggling to afford their water bill

Found: a household needing to spend more than five percent of its income (minus housing costs) on its water bill

Found: households that spend more than 5% of their disposable income (ie post housing costs) on their water bill

Found: with the Department for Work and Pension so that customers receive an annual discount on their water bill

Found: Measuring water poverty and the success of our support We measure water poverty as water bill charges

Found: The full calculation, taken from Ofwat PR24 guidance, is: Water Bill / Equivalised Net Household Income

Found: whether a household spends more than 5% of household income (excluding housing costs) on their water bill

Found: extent of water poverty in our area by identifying the proportion of customers whose average dual water bill

Found: builds on this success with a £200 million investment to ensure every household can afford their water bill

Found: We have not touched on it, but currently one in five households cannot afford their water bill and

Found: Unlike some other eNGOs, WildFish recognises that, given where we find ourselves today, it will the water bill

Found: ) Act paved the way for fairer and more consistent support to ensure everyone can afford their water bill

Found: Consumer Council for Water’s (“CCW”) definition, where a customer is in water poverty if their water bill

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that water bills do not rise in the context of the closure of Ofwat.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The price controls set as part of Price Review 2024 came into effect on 1st April 2025, setting water bill levels for 2025-2030. The abolition of Ofwat and creation of a new water regulator will not affect these.

The Government has set out its intention to create a single powerful super-regulator responsible for the entire water sector, with the teeth to enforce the high standards the public rightly demand and to help protect the public from the kind of bill hikes we saw last year. Subject to consultation this autumn, the Government will abolish Ofwat and merge its functions with water functions across the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

Until the single water regulator is fully established, the existing regulators will continue to carry out their functions and enforcement responsibilities in full. The Government will clarify its expectations through a Strategic Policy Statement and ministerial direction, expected to be published later this year.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of gearing in water and sewerage companies; how they calculate gearing for the purpose of any official or internal statistics on the insolvency risk of water and sewerage companies; and whether they use equity or assets as a denominator when making any calculation o gearing.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The gearing of water companies is reported by Ofwat in its annual Monitoring Financial Resilience Report. Ofwat requires companies to report gearing as net debt divided by Regulatory Capital Value.

Water companies are allowed to raise debt to fund the delivery of their services; this is normal practice across all parts of the private sector. At sensible levels, debt can be an appropriate way to fund investment for essential infrastructure over the longer term. However, we recognise some companies will need to take further steps to strengthen their financial resilience.

The Independent Water Commission has made recommendations around the financial resilience of companies. The Government’s full response to the Commission’s recommendations - including those around financial resilience - will be outlined later this year through a White Paper. The proposed reforms will then form the basis of a new water bill to modernise the entire system so that it is fit for decades to come.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether water companies are permitted to fund social tariffs by passing costs to other residential customers.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Social Tariffs are voluntary schemes designed and administered by water companies to provide a discounted water bill to qualifying customers who are unable to pay their water bill in full.

These schemes are permitted to be funded through cross subsidies from customers under s44 Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57661 on Water Charges, what estimate he has made of the average household water bill in each year from 2025 to 2030.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The price controls set by Ofwat under Price Review 2024 came into effect on 1st April 2025. The average customer bill will increase by 36% over the next five years. These bill rises equate to around £3 additional per month on average, before inflation, over the next five years. This will pay to fix crumbling infrastructure, which will dramatically reduce sewage spills and lead to cleaner rivers, lakes and seas.

The Secretary of State has secured agreement with Ofwat that funding for vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. Ofwat will also ensure that when money for investment is not spent, companies refund customers, with money never allowed to be diverted for bonuses, dividends or salary increases.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57663, on Water Charges: Social Tariffs, how social tariffs will be funded; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of social tariffs on the residential customer bills of people who are not on a social tariff.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Social Tariffs are voluntary schemes designed and administered by water companies to provide a discounted water bill to qualifying customers who are unable to pay their water bill in full.

These schemes are permitted to be funded through cross subsidies from customers under Section 44 Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The Government is working with industry and Ofwat to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers across the country are supported and customer charges are fair and proportionate.

The water companies have imposed an unacceptable increase for waste water bills of around 50%, which is unacceptable. This is due to their failure to invest for the last 10-20 years if not more, while paying shareholders and bonuses to bosses.

Found: Stop the unacceptable waste water bill increase imposed by water companies.

Found: This Government was elected to clean up water pollution and ensure unacceptable water bill hikes can

Found: expected to make assurances that government action will protect hardworking families from massive water bill

Found: in favour of a ban were those expressing a concern for the en vironmental impacts and cost to water bill

Found: a Citizens Advice study said that they would find it difficult to afford the average 2025/26 water bill

Found: In 2023, those who thought their water bill was fair fell to 55% from 64% in 2022.44 Water bills have

Found: part-time and receiving Universal Credit with an income under £19,000 per year would have an annual water bill

Found: Scottish Government communications regarding Water Bill: EIR release

Found: Scottish Government communications regarding Water Bill: EIR release

Found: 3 SCOTLAND IS BETTER OFF LOWER TAXES & CHARGES Scotland England Wales Average Household Water Bill

Our rivers are crying out for help. We do not have long before it will be too late to save them.
For too long, legislators, regulators and polluters have talked about protecting our rivers but nothing meaningful is ever done.
We are calling on Members of the Senedd to commit to producing a Clean Water Bill for Wales.

Found: The Clean Water Bill will: • Set an ambitious framework of legally binding targets for biodiversity