SOUTH WEST LIB DEM MPS WARN THAT MINISTERS WILL FACE A BATTLE ON BILLS

10.02.41am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 19th Apr 2007

Ministers will face an onslaught next week as Devon and Cornwall’s Liberal Democrat MPs demand a solution to rocketing water bills in a special Parliamentary debate.

The MPs will put pressure on Ministers to resolve the burden of unaffordable water rates, with customers in the South West paying the highest bills in the country. Despite an ongoing campaign against the high costs, Devon and Cornwall’s bill payers suffered a further hike in February, increasing many bills by a whopping 16.5%.

Matthew Taylor, MP for Truro & St Austell, has secured next week’s special debate in the Commons. Mr Taylor is expected to propose specific measures to help water bill payers in the South West in his debate.

He commented:

“Ministers have avoided tackling the sky-high water bills caused by the Conservative's botched water privatisation in the South West for too long. Thanks to inaction by Conservative and Labour Governments and the water regulator, rates have got out of control, shackling the people with the lowest incomes in the country with the highest bills.

“Conservative water privatisation has left 3% of the national population paying to clean up a third of Britain’s beaches. What is needed is a fairer system to redistribute the costs, but Labour has just sat back and done nothing. I will be proposing specific action to help cut peoples bills. ”

MP for Devon North Nick Harvey added:

“I do not see why consumers should be penalised for decades of Government underinvestment and South West Water’s dividend requirements. Constituents have made it very clear that they will not tolerate these ongoing and considerable price hikes.

“The situation has not been helped by the Government and the regulator’s acquiescence in this process. As a National utility Water saw gross underinvestment resulting in high levels of pollution, this may have been successfully tackled by privatisation but the funding system has become highly inequitable for the people of the South West. Reassurances for the future are not enough; something has to be done now.”