PEOPLE living alone are facing higher water bills under new Scottish Government plans.
Ministers have announced they want to cut the discount on water bills for single occupiers from 25 to 10 per cent, and end the exemption for vacant homes altogether.
The change would cost most single occupiers around £70 more per year from 2021.
However there would be more generous discounts for the poorest households.
The government also suggested developers may have to pay more for infrastructure, as new homes are forcing the construction of more water treatment works.
The problem is particularly acute in Eastern Scotland, where increased demand means works are required for Edinburgh, Stirling and Perth at a cost of up to £300m.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said the measures would help tackle “significant challenges” and ensure a sustainable high-performing industry.
The proposals are contained in a government consultation on the next six-year charging period, which will run from 2021 to 2027.
Domestic water and sewerage bills vary by council tax bands, ranging this year from £292 for a Band A home to £875 for a Band H house.
Average household charges in Scotland are around £42 less than in England and Wales.
The independent Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) decides the charges publicly-owned Scottish Water can set, using a ministerial framework.
The government has now said it wants to overhaul the discounts which helps around half of Scottish Water's customers and cost £146m a year.
The most expensive discount is the £85m-a-year single occupier relief, which costs more each year because of the “upward trend in single occupancy”.
In some council areas, more than 40 per cent of all households are single person.
The full exemption for vacant homes costs another £20m another a year.
The consultation says there is “no service-related cost justification” for either discount, as most industry costs relate to pipes and infrastructure, rather than occupant numbers.
As such, the discounts were “simply a subsidy” paid for by other customers.
“Ministers therefore consider that there is a strong case for reducing or removing these discounts. They wish to consider reducing the single occupant status discount from 25% to 10% and remove altogether the vacant property exemption.”
However ministers also want to double the maximum water bill discount from 25 to 50 per cent for the poorest households in receipt of Council Tax Reduction (CTR) benefit.
This would help 340,000 households on full CTR and another 160,000 on partial CTR.
The WICS recently warned Scottish Water will have to invest more in infrastructure and repairs over the 2021-27 period.
At present, Scottish Water spends £286m a year replacing its assets, but this should be around £480m based on a 125-year-life span for its £60bn worth of infrastructure.
Developers pay a flat fee of £346 for a new connection to the water network, but the government has now ordered a review to “better allocate the costs”.
The government noted “all the available capacity of networks and treatment works” had been used up in Eastern Scotland, and “the industry is now facing a significant pressure to provide new capacity”, with wastewater treatment works needed in Edinburgh, Stirling and Perth.
“The total cost of this new capacity is forecast to be in the region of £250-£300m in the period 2021-27, a significant increase from the £110m in the period 2015-21m,” it said.
Ms Cunningham said: “Our collective focus on the need to improve the quality and standards of services, our determination to keep charges affordable, and the commitment shown by our water industry has resulted in Scotland’s drinking water quality, environmental performance and levels of service reaching their highest levels ever.
“These are impressive achievements over a period in which average charges have fallen in real terms and remain amongst the lowest in the UK.
“However significant challenges lie ahead and we must plan carefully to address these and ensure that the progress made is maintained so that we continue to have a sustainable high performing water industry meeting customers’ needs at affordable prices.”
A Scottish Water spokesman said: “Scottish Water is committed to providing water and waste water services for 2.5m households and 156,000 businesses now and in the future.
“The setting of customer charges is a matter of Government policy and we work closely with our customers and stakeholders to ensure we can continue to deliver the water and wastewater services our customers expect.”
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