George joined parliamentary colleagues from all sides of the House in a Westminster Hall debate convened yesterday under the title, 'Water and Sewerage Charges (South West Water)'. The debate was secured by Torbay MP, Adrian Sanders, who introduced the subject as "a matter of great concern to the people of Devon and Cornwall".
MPs from across the region spoke of the injustice of the disproportionately high charges, and were particularly scathing of the regulatory body, Ofwat, many questioning whether it was fit for purpose. Having heard the unfairness of the current charging expounded by several colleagues, George spoke about his proposals for a 'Fair Discount Scheme' which would target those people who are 'water poor' i.e. they spend more than 3% of their household income on water bills. This would benefit an estimated 70% of South West Water customers, and would be a national scheme. George spoke of the merits of the scheme in tackling the two historic arguments against a national water tariff scheme, namely that, a) it is difficult to get the multilateral agreement needed for a scheme that only benefits one region, and b) such schemes might see poor people outside the south west subsidising those people who are very wealthy and live in the South West Water area.
DEFRA minister, Richard Benyon, brought very welcome encouragement to the people of the South West, saying that Treasury Officials were "crunching the numbers" of George's scheme as they spoke, and reaffirming his determination "to get this right".
To read the whole debate click here.
The London Editor of the Western Morning News wrote an article on the debate in today's edition, focusing on the commitment the Minister made to "make sure that Ofwat is fit for purpose", and his announcement that the body is subject to a review headed by David Grey. To read the article click here.