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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of the increases in the cost of living on the number of households in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England that have fallen into arrears with their water supplier.

Every five years, Ofwat scrutinises each water company’s business plan to ensure value for customer money and sets an overall cap on the total amount that each company may recover from their customers, through a process called the Price Review. Each year, water companies must publish their charges, setting out the basis on which they will charge their customers within the cap set by Ofwat. This year’s increase in water charges relates primarily to the increase in the rate of inflation and subsequent increases to the water companies’ costs as a result of this. These costs and adjustments are in line with the revenue controls set by Ofwat for all water companies.

Severn Trent Water’s customers saw their average combined bill for a household in-crease by 7.2% and the average yearly water and sewerage bills in England and Wales increase by 7.5%. We do not track households that have fallen into arrears with their water bill payments, this would be undertaken by water companies. However, I am very mindful that consumers are concerned about their bills. All water companies offer WaterSure and social tariffs to help reduce bills for households who struggle to pay their bills in full. Water companies also offer a range of financial support measures to assist households to better manage their budgets and provide flexible payments including payment holidays, bill matching, benefit entitlement checks and money/debt advice referral arrangements. Government expects water companies to continue to actively engage with households and inform them of support measures they offer.

I encourage customers to access the Consumer Council for Water’s Advice Hub, which has information and useful tools to help customers reduce their bills or access financial support.

To support people with the cost of living, Government have put in place a substantial package of support. Further information can be found here: Cost of living support - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).