Water Companies (Social Tariffs) Bill (HC Bill 37)
A
BILL
TO
Require water companies to provide social tariffs for low income families; and
for connected purposes.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Social tariffs
(1)
A company providing water or sewerage services to domestic customers shall
provide a social tariff for those of its customers who, as a household, spend 5
per cent or more of their income on water and sewerage services.
(2)
5The Secretary of State, or, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Scottish
Government, the Welsh Ministers and the Northern Ireland Government
respectively, shall make regulations governing the prices and application of
social tariffs within the meaning of subsection (1).
(3)
Regulations under subsection (2) shall also make provision for landlords to
10provide details of their tenants to the relevant water company to enable the
company to offer the social tariff to such tenants as qualify for it.
(4)
Regulations made by the Secretary of State shall be contained in a statutory
instrument and may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid
before, and approved by resolution of, both Houses of Parliament.
2 15Short title, commencement and extent
(1) This Act may be cited as the Water Companies (Social Tariffs) Act 2013.
(2)
This Act, except section 1(1), shall come into force on Royal Assent; and section
1(1) shall come into effect when regulations under section 1(2) are in force in
the relevant territory.
(3) 20This Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.