Looking Forward
61. The review process has improved greatly since
the last Periodic Review. We were particularly happy to see the
degree of transparency and communication between all the different
bodies involved. However we do feel that there may be further
opportunities for information and expertise to be shared, particularly
in the area of cost-benefit analysis of the environmental programme,
given the expertise within water companies regarding the costing
of projects. The Agency has done some good work in this area but
given the critical comments from Ofwat and water companies we
think more could be done by water companies to ensure greater
information is available to the Agency to assist them with their
work. We do understand that there may be commercial confidentiality
issues involved which might restrict the options available, but
it is an area that should be explored.
62. Through the course of this enquiry it has become
clear to us that there are several areas affecting water prices
that will need to be addressed in the very near future. For example,
the information provided to us by the Industry and Ofwat shows
that the "average" customer currently pays around £17
a year towards dealing with customer debt and diffuse pollution.
Both of these issues are likely to result in considerable increases
in costs to customers over the next five years if not properly
addressed. Overall we were disappointed to find that despite
the concerns expressed by Government, Ofwat and water companies
about the unpalatability of increasing water prices more is not
being done by all of them to reduce costs to customers, particularly
those less able to pay. The issues of diffuse pollution, customer
debt and affordability need to be seriously addressed as they
all add significantly to water customers' bills. Dealing with
these will have a greater impact on the cost of water to customers
than attempting to cut spending on the environmental programme,
which would reduce the majority of water customers' bills by a
few pounds at most.
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