Water Bill

Debate between Lord Oxburgh and Lord Cameron of Dillington

Tuesday 25th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Oxburgh]

My Lords, I begin by declaring an interest in a company that designs and manufactures smart meters for gas, electricity and water; the amendment is about water.

I shall not rehearse the arguments about water metering, which were well aired in Committee. The present situation is clear: a householder who wants a water meter is entitled to have one. However, no one is charged for their water by metered volume unless they want to pay in that way or they live in an area designated by the Secretary of State as one of water stress. As has been pointed out by the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, that situation obtains despite the fact that in 2009 the independent Walker review of water charging set up by Defra concluded that charging by water volume was the only fair and sustainable basis for charging.

In Committee, I pointed out that regardless of the considerable fairness, efficiency and environmental benefits of metering, there were two other important considerations. First, because meters are relatively expensive to install on a one-off basis, it is much more cost-effective if a whole street or neighbourhood is done together. Secondly, because we live in times of changing climate and weather, an area that previously enjoyed an abundant supply of water may become water-stressed quickly and unexpectedly. If meters are already in place, it would be possible to respond to the changed conditions much more quickly. This means that there are good reasons to allow water suppliers to install meters at their discretion and convenience, while leaving the decision on whether to use those meters for water charging with the Secretary of State or the householder. This would allow meter installation at minimum cost and permit a timely response to water stress, if needed, and it was the essence of the amendment that I introduced in Committee.

In subsequent discussions with the Minister, his officials and the supporting Front Bench team, for which I am very grateful, the view was that water companies already had the authority to carry out general meter installation and that this amendment was unnecessary. Numerous communications which I have had since that time—I continue to receive them—suggest that this fact is not well known. I have tabled the present amendment at least in part to allow the Minister to make an authoritative statement on the present situation.

I will make a couple of comments on today’s amendment, the wording for which was offered by WWF and several collaborating organisations. First, I have to apologise to them and to the House that the wording in the amendment is in fact not the most recent wording—but never mind, it gives us an opportunity to discuss the general problem. The amendment would allow water companies to introduce universal metering if, after consultation with customers through the existing water resources management plan and business plan processes, it is found to be the most affordable option for customers overall as well as being the best option for water resources management. This will be consistent with the new resilience duty of Ofwat, and I strongly endorse that proposal. The present procedures for metering approval need widening and are glacially slow even when all those directly affected are in agreement.

Secondly, the text of the amendment provides an excellent illustration of the need for the Secretary of State to supply a clear and authoritative statement on metering to clarify the tortuous complexity of the present legislation. It is hardly surprising if water companies are confused about the law, if indeed they are. The subject matter is not intrinsically complicated, but successive layers of amending legislation, laid one upon the other, make the present state of the law difficult to discover without a great deal of work. At an earlier stage the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, assured me and the House that codification of water legislation would receive the attention of the department. I wonder whether the Minister could simply comment on any progress that has been made.

In conclusion, I believe that metering is important both to give consumers a fair deal and to help the environment. We ought to make it less expensive and easier to accomplish. I beg to move.

[Lord Cameron of Dillington]

My Lords, in supporting my noble friend Lord Oxburgh I realise that we are swimming against an overwhelming political current here. However, it is sometimes the duty of Cross-Benchers to point out the political follies of some of the main parties in this House. It is clear to me from having spoken to many Members of this House—including some very important Members, many of whom are here today—that on a personal vote this amendment, or something like it, would sail through the House. To put it bluntly, a lack of imagination at the other end of the Palace is preventing this happening. One might even say it was a lack of leadership. I say “lack of imagination” because it is quite easy to devise a tariff system or to further enhance or better promote WaterSure or some of the other systems so that large households on low budgets, for example, can continue to pay as little as they do for their water at the moment, or even less.

It has been my ambition throughout the passage of the Bill to ensure that water is valued more by all parties: government; businesses, including energy, which are great water users; farmers; and, above all, domestic consumers. Having read the Committee stage—I apologise that I was not in Committee when this was discussed—I know that it has already been said that no one will value it unless we measure it. That includes those who might be getting assistance. Everyone would value water more if they measured it. What seems strange is that that is the overwhelming view not only of Members of this House but of environmentalists and of most customers, when they are asked—you have only to read the Walker report to see that.

It is also the view of water companies that we should work towards 100% metering. Your Lordships might think that slightly counterintuitive because, if customers value their water more, surely they will buy less. However, water companies know that the costs and delays in providing ever-expanding infrastructure and water supplies to cater for an ever-expanding demand would cripple their balance sheets. In January, some of us heard that a mere extension of a reservoir in Essex took 20 years to achieve: 10 years to prove the case and 10 years to go through planning. How much longer would it take for the many new reservoirs required to cater for this system of unlimited demand? There is no doubt that a reduction in demand by around 15%, which is often cited as what can be achieved by universal metering, would be the equivalent of several new reservoirs. Metering is therefore so much quicker and cheaper, and infinitely better for the environment.

I want to tell your Lordships a small parable from India. In India, water was considered to be a commodity that was given by God and therefore should be free to all people. Because no one was paying for it or valuing it, the investment in infrastructure by the state and the private sector was therefore negligible. It was even worse than our water industry was before privatisation. So as a result of this paucity of investment, communities in both cities and rural villages often got water only for an hour per day, or sometimes two at the most. Anyone who has listened to any debates on overseas development in this House will know that poor sanitation caused by lack of water is the biggest killer of children in the world. Anyway, the Indian Government realised that everyone had to value water more and so changed the law about not charging for water. Almost immediately, a giant leap forward was taken in water supplies and sanitation across India, although it is not perfect and they have a long way to go yet.

Your Lordships may be thinking, “What on earth does this have to do with universal metering?”. However, as I said, it is a parable rather than a parallel because the Indian Government had learnt that you do not want to use water as a political or social tool to iron out the inequalities of life. Apart from anything else, water is one of the heaviest commodities on the planet. It is difficult and expensive to move around. It is best to put the proper value on water and then ensure through other measures that people have the wherewithal to pay for it; that is what I mean by a lack of imagination. Nearly all Western countries have universal metering and most of them, from what I can gather, have some sort of WaterSure scheme or an equivalent which relieve those who might get into financial difficulties. Universal metering is going to happen here eventually, as in the rest of the world, However, I am reminded of the German philosopher—I think it was Otto Mencke, although I cannot be dead certain—who said: “When the end of the world comes, I want to be in England because everything always happens 50 years later there”.

Energy Bill

Debate between Lord Oxburgh and Lord Cameron of Dillington

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Grand Committee

[Lord Oxburgh]

My Lords, I support this amendment and the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Deben. It would be very interesting if the Minister could tell the Committee what he regards the implications of sticking to 2044 as a date would be, because it has totally excruciating consequences for the generation pattern in other parts of the system if our legal obligations are to be met.

[Lord Cameron of Dillington]

My Lords, I, too, support this amendment. I will not repeat all the arguments that I and others have already given for the 2030 decarbonisation target. I seem to remember the Government’s response to that was, “Yes, probably a good idea but not yet”. Frankly, their emissions target of 450 grams per kilowatt hour in 2044 is just laughable. Bearing in mind that even if all our electricity is produced at that time by unabated gas, in 2044 our emissions would be around 300 grams per kilowatt hour. I cannot understand why this figure has been put in the Bill. It is absurd to set such a target for 2044.

To save me jumping to my feet on the next amendment we will discuss, I would like to say that I would prefer to see a target of 300 grams in 2029. I prefer to combine the two amendments, which would make a lot more sense. As the noble Baroness, Lady Worthington, has said, we have to keep driving this CCS agenda. As I said in the previous debate, we have to be economically ambitious here, so I very much support this agenda and I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.