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.

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, payment matching, benefit entitlement checks and money/debt advice referral arrangements. The Government expects water companies to continue to actively engage with households and inform them of support measures they offer. The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) works with water companies and Defra to monitor the uptake of affordability measures.

My officials are working with CCW, Ofwat, charities and water companies to explore the recommendations from CCW's Affordability Review, to further support households who are struggling to pay their water bills.