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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of South West Water’s leakage performance on customer’s bills; and whether the Government is taking steps to ensure that customers do not face increased charges where significant quantities of treated water are lost through leakage.

Ofwat set specific performance commitments for water companies including on leakage. South West Water continues to underperform on leakage, and the company did not meet its 2024 target. Government expects Ofwat to enable fair prices for customers through the setting of licence conditions and guaranteed service standards. To further support this, Government is enabling the largest smart meter rollout to date over this price review to protect customer bills by, identifying and eradicating leakage.