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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's planned timelines are for considering the introduction of a national social tariff for water bills; and whether she is taking steps to ensure that the potential design for a national social tariff reaches those most in need.

This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable and is working with industry to keep support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported.

As such, we have carried out a consultation on reforms to WaterSure - the statutory scheme which caps water bills for low-income customers with higher water usage due to medical conditions or large households, including whether additional customers should be brought into scope of the scheme.

The Government also expects all water companies to put appropriate support in place for customers struggling to pay their bills and to proactively engage with their customers to ensure they know what support schemes are available and how to use them if they need help. All companies have measures in place such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.