Unison calls for fairer pricing by water companies

Jun 16 2009 By Henryk Zientek

Unison said the "worst offenders" on posting profits and demanding bill rises included United Utilities, which lifted profits by 11%, but is said to be seeking a 10% increase in bills between 2010 and 2015, and Thames Water, which lifted profits by 34.4%, but wants a 16.2% rise in bills by 2015.

By contrast, customers in Wales were given a dividend of £21 each in line with the firm’s not-for-profit business model.

Unison general-secretary Dave Prentis said: "While water customers are being hit hard by the recession, water company bosses are sitting pretty. Guaranteed increases to consumer bills helped boost their balance sheets by billions this year.

"Many of their customers are left holding bills they simply cannot afford."

A spokesman for Yorkshire Water said: "Water companies are very different from each other for the good reason that they have evolved as businesses serving very different catchments and communities. In the water sector, one size definitely does not fit all.

"Each water company has produced a business plan for 2010-15 that will meet the priorities of its customers by taking into account the local geography, climate, population and economy, as well as the condition of the company’s water mains, sewers and treatment works.

"All these factors mean that the path to more reliable services is different for each company.

"For example, all companies plan to help customers reduce demand by using water more efficiently, but some must also plan to develop new sources of water for the future perhaps by enlarging an existing reservoir or investigating the need for a new reservoir in future."