Water bills flat

Dec 31 2009 by Kenneth Speirs, Paisley Daily Express

WATER bills for families across Renfrewshire will be frozen in 2010/11, the Paisley Daily Express can reveal.

New bills to cover water charges for the 12 months from April 2010 will be arriving through local letterboxes in the coming weeks and will offer some much-needed respite for cash-strapped households.

The ‘Final Determination’ from the Water Industry Commission for the period between 2010 and 2015 proposes that customer charges will be frozen for at least one year and decrease in ‘real terms’ over the next five years.

This means the average water bill for households across Scotland in 2010/11 will continue to be around £324.

And this is expected to continue to be less than the average household bill in England and Wales.

Richard Ackroyd, chief executive of Scottish Water, told the Paisley Daily Express: “Increasingly, our customers are seeing value in the charges they pay and the improved service they receive.

“Our drinking water is the best it has ever been, the environment is greener, leakage is being tackled and service is being improved.

“We believe these charges are a fair deal for our customers in these difficult economic conditions.

“These charges are helping to pay for the current £2.5billion programme which is delivering the investment that Scotland needs in its water infrastructure while providing thousands of construction jobs.

“Millions of people are turning on their taps to clearer, fresher drinking water, a cleaner environment and improved customer service.

“We are working hard to ensure that, in the next five years, charges remain steady while we continue to deliver vital investment.”