UNISON called on the government to stand up for the public today, as it was announced that water bills in England and Wales are set to rise by up to 8.8% from April – ahead of inflation.
Industry regulator Ofwat claimed that customers would be getting “value for money”.
But UNISON national secretary for Business, community and environment, Mike Jeram, said that it was “time that the government and regulator stood up for the public interest.
“This is another hammer blow for hard-pressed families, with water and sewerage prices rising by an average of 5.7%, with some companies demanding even more.”
And he noted: “Interestingly the lowest increase – 3.8% – will be levied by the not-for-profit Welsh Water (Dwr Cymru).”
Mr Jeram added that: “The recent government water white paper completely failed to deliver adequate protection for poor and vulnerable families.”
The justification for the increases is said to be because of work to the infrastructure that is needed, but when water was privatised in 1989, the sale price was set low to take account of this.