Abstract
* Water poverty is a growing problem as a result of increasing water prices. For the purposes of this report, the standard measure of water affordability (3 per cent of net income spent on water) is used.
* Key issues in addressing water poverty include the regional variation in water bills which reflects the different financial needs of water companies who hold regional monopolies. This is not reflected in any statutory forms of support to help people manage their water bills, such as the notional water component of income support.
* Regional variation in bills creates a unique difficulty among the essential utility services in arriving at a national solution, the issue of how to provide fairly the necessary support to customers with widely varying bills is problematic.
* Key issues in addressing water poverty include the regional variation in water bills which reflects the different financial needs of water companies who hold regional monopolies. This is not reflected in any statutory forms of support to help people manage their water bills, such as the notional water component of income support.
* Regional variation in bills creates a unique difficulty among the essential utility services in arriving at a national solution, the issue of how to provide fairly the necessary support to customers with widely varying bills is problematic.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Birmingham |
| Publisher | Consumer Council for Water |
| Number of pages | 36 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Bibliographical note
Appears listed as "Exploring the potential of the tax and benefits system to help with water affordability" on Consumer Council Water website.Keywords
- social exclusion, income, poverty