Thanks Tories — Householders to be hit by £1,000 Water Bill with Prices Set to Soar 60%
Thanks to the Tories, who launched the privatisation of Britain’s utilities, water customers across Britain face a punishing increase in bills of up to 60 per cent over five years, threatening the first £1,000 annual charge.
The news will be disastrous for the millions who are struggling with crippling rises in other ‘must pay’ bills for heat, light, food and petrol.
The big increases will reignite anger that water industry bosses have cashed in since the industry was privatised in 1989. Profits and dividends have soared on the back of two decades of inflationbusting increases in bills.
Foreign owners who have snapped up UK water companies have received huge windfalls despite a succession of service failures. For example, RWE of Germany cashed in from its ownership of Thames Water, the UK’s biggest water company, which it then sold for £8 billion to the Australian bank Macquarie.
Anglian Water is owned by a private group dominated by foreign investors, while French, German and Arab firms own significant parts of the industry.
The nation’s big water and sewerage companies yesterday outlined their investment and price rise plans for 2010 through to 2015. Customers of South West Water who do not have a meter could see their average bills rise by 40 per cent above inflation, from £677.46 to £951.18.
Once inflation is added to the equation, the jump could be 62.2 per cent, taking the bill to almost £1,100.
The Consumer Council for Water in the South West condemned the planned price rise. Chairman Charles Howeson said: ‘We are concerned that South West Water’s investment proposals will push prices up beyond what customers are willing and able to pay.’
Among the other companies bidding for big increases are Anglian, Southern, Thames and United Utilities, which covers north west England.
The increase for Anglian’s non-meter customers will be an estimated 47.9 per cent after inflation over five years.
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In a way we can expect to pay more for oil and gas as they are depleting sources of energy, although clearly we are ripped off.
Water however does not deplete we have as much water now as we did millions of years ago. This is simply an opportunistic chance to hideously raise profits in line with fuel gas and electric rises.
All energy sources should be nationalised and produced at zero profit.
Can anybody tell me which is best,set water rates or a water meter?. I hear conflicting tales, has anybody switched from one t’other and been better or worse off?.
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The fewer people in the household, the cheaper the water if using a meter. -Ed
Pushing the envelope to such an extent that the working man can no longer afford to live, but only exist will have consequences this will work in our favour and bring the downfall of the NWO quicker. Go on bully boys keep pushing!
Catmar, not only can the British working man no longer afford to live, but what’s more important is that he can no longer afford to have children. This furthers the LibLabCon’s programme to produce a more diverse and vibrant society, as is happening in the States.
@jao
I went onto meter 2 years ago. For most of the time I’ve regretted it. I live on my own, and thought a meter would be a good idea. However I soon noticed that other charges: sewage, surface water removal and standing charges make up most of the bill. The cost of water is relatively small, and no matter how economical you are, it makes little difference to the bill. I heard recently that the water companies are complaining to the Regulator, that as more people go onto meters, they’re using less water - so ‘can we charge more for water?’ That sounds idiotic: I’d have thought the main aim of meters would be to encourage people to use water carefully. Now we’re going to be punished for using water carefully.
This is one of the finest examples of exactly why the good citizens of OUR Country cannot choose between the Tories & Labour, they are both Equally as vile and contemptible.
About 16 years ago a relative of mine was working on a project for our local water board when it was privatised. The MD was paid @ 30K at that time, overnight his salary jumped to 120K for doing the exactly the same job! The water companies are cynically jumping the same band-wagon as the rest of the utility companies and our hard earned income is lining the pockets of the fat-cats and share holders. I sincerely hope when the BNP lead Our Country they will take full control of ALL the utility companies and put them firmly back in control of the BNP-Government and the public; (and not paying a penny for what was already ours - use the military to secure the deal if necessary)!!!
Oh for the days when you spent a penny going to the toilet!
More like a quid now.
At the next election when the sheeple think of voting for dinky Dave, remind them who to thank for this well thought out extortion.
Thatcherism was one big scam to bleed us dry and turn us into debt slaves.
Am I being totally naive here but can’t OFFWAT (ie. The Govt) simply say a big NO to these rises and cap them? I thought that was their Raison d’Etre….
In response to the questions about whether it’s cheaper to have metered water, or not:
I had a meter installed some 15 or so years ago now. I’ve never regretted it.
However, we’re a pair of retired wrinklies living in a 1930s bungalow, and this is what we pay at present:
£12 monthly to Anglian Water - this is for sewerage services. We get a discount because the water from our roof does not go into main drainage but into a soakaway.
£10.37 monthly to Essex&Suffolk Water which - I believe - is French-owned. Our water usage is a shower each morning, washing machine perhaps twice a week, as well as other normal uses, drinking etc. We don’t buy bottled water for drinking.
We get a discount for paying by direct debit.
I am not clear why so many of England’s utilities are now owned by France, and it makes the old song seem rather ironic ‘Drink old England dry’.
Incidentally, following from the news item on this site yesterday, our normal cost of living, all utilities, council tax, food, excluding car costs, is £530 a month, that’s £122.30 a week. If we were like many retired couples on basic state pension alone, this would leave us with only £23 a week for everything else, clothing, you name it.
Frenchmike - “I thought that was their Raison d’Etre”
Their raison d’etre is to spin in defence of the indefensible.
When was the last time that liblabcon seriously went against the orders of the Corporate sector and the City?
TIP: We asked for a water meter to be installed two years ago, it halved our water bill.Use water butts to collect rain water for the greenhouse and garden. Shower do not bath. It saves water and cheaper on your pocket.
They funiest part of all this is that “our” Government is giving massive amounts of money to 3rd world countries so they can build water systems to give thme better water, drainage and waste diposal, build power facilities because “our poor neighbours” can’t afford the basics in life, yet at the same time WATCHING and LAUGHING at what is happening in this country.
WE can’t afford Heating, Lighting, Cooking and Water facilities because they have sold us out. NOT ONE MORE PENNY should leave these shores until we have all of our Utilities back under our control. Has anyone checked to see how many of our European counterparts have foreign owned utilities? I can bet you that it is none, we are the only idiots that would allow this to happen to our countrymen.
We need to get a wave of refusals to pay for these increase in prices without reason and without improvements to our services, we have for the last 10years now, been paying more and more for less and less …. when will it end?
Hmm.. seems my post got deleted or disappeared so I’ll try again!
jao7, This house came with a water meter installed. There are two of us. We also run a business rom home, Monday-Friday, with 5 of us here in total during that time.
Spring water off the hill comes through to the kitchen and we use it for drinking and “sink-stuff” such as washing veg. etc.
All other water use is from the mains supply–baths, showers, bogs, drip irrigation and watering. We have a septic system so do not get a sewerage charge.
Our last 6 monthly bill was £65.00. Our yearly average is around £100 to £130.00. By contrast, my parents pay a flat rate of £500.00 per year. You DO become more aware of water wastage issues. One thing we do is to collect bath-and-shower water in two large, connected water-butts, via a drainpipe coollector, for garden use.
Reading the above comments I cannot believe we are talking like this. We must have an abundant supply of water in Britain but the wastage and leaks are astronomical.
All we hear year in year out is that the increase in water bills is required for investment in the infrastructure. We all know that the money is not getting spent on repairs. Its a case of these companies getting in making the money and then sell at billions of pounds profit. God I’m angry, we are just getting robbed, now and in the future. All of the Government should be sacked!!
They forced me to have a water meter, we are very carefull with what we use, our bill works out at £13 a week. This is nothing short of robbery, the rainfall we get in England should give us a good supply at a reasonable price. We are the most exploited race of people in the World.
“In 1875 the town council took over the water company and after that sanitary inspectors closed many private wells. But it was not until a reservoir was built at Elan Valley in 1904 that Birmingham’s water supply problems were solved. ”
http://www.localhistories.org/birmingham.html
In Birmingham our water supply was created by the Municipal authorities and paid for by the rate-payers. At this time Birmingham was known as the most advanced city in the world for public provision of this kind. After the war when ownership was passed to the state there was, if I remember rightly, a clause which specifically forbade selling off the assets to private ownership. But this meant nothing to Tory spivs who stole our water assets during the eighties.
I think the water utility companies are trying to produce their own profitable “lifestyle” fluoride-flavoured “Skinny Water”, whereby if you drink and wash you won’t be able to afford to eat, hence you lose weight effortlessly:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1043431/Skinny-water-help-shed-pounds-99p.html
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Some fools will believe the spin and lies then buy it, a bit like the DM itself - Ed
As is usually the case, those of us who have been enlightened by the BNP already know the score. The information that supporters and members read on this site needs to be drilled into each and every one of the British sheeple, who for reasons unknown still continue to vote for rotten, stinking crooks instead of voting for radical and desperately needed change in the form of a nationalist government, that prioritizes the welfare of British citizens above all else. Just how much more are the stupid British people going to take before deciding that enough is enough? My small business is less than 2 years old and will cease to exist by the end of this month. Working class folk are desperate and it’s going to get far worse, thanks to the incompetence and treachery of consecutive governments.
jao7 wrote: “Water however does not deplete we have as much water now as we did
millions of years ago.” True, but the demands on it are so much greater now.
Check out this four page summary of Frank Salters book “On Genetic Interests”:
http://majorityrights.com/images/uploads/EGI.pdf
“Carrying capacity is the maximum population that can live in a given territory. Although technology and increased economic efficiency can increase carrying capacity, there is a practical limit above which further population growth is not possible. Many ecologists believe we are approaching, or have surpassed, the practical carrying capacity of the Earth.”
The globalelite want life and death control over everything, Food, Water even Seeds.
They are now pushing seeds ontop farmers that they cannot use more than once, IE a farmer cannot keep some of his crop behind to plant next year, he must go back to the Global Elite and buy more seeds.
These are called Terminator Seeds.
Terminator Seeds, How the Global Elite Intend to take Absolute Life and Death control over Britains Food Supply.
Note we no longer have a fishing Industry, nor are our rivers stocked with fish, the Government now wants to impose restrictions on fishing round our shores alegedly under the pretence of environmenmtal concern (the the reality is they want control over our ability to feed our selves and our families.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=ENG20060827&articleId=3082
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=2844.0
@ royalecraig
Not only do they want to impose restrictions on fishing but even on access to the coast and rivers. The Ramblers Association has a campaign to stop the extinction of hundreds of thousands of rights of way.
In the end we won’t be able to move from our white ghettos.
Stop worrying, the UTILITIES are coming back and the third world is going back! A major precept of Common Purpose is the maxim “never take no for an answer” (as the Irish have found out) That is a rule we must adopt and make it one of our commandments. Common Purpose are exercised about what they call defamation. However, one cannot slander the devil. Keeping the utilities in European hands is part of their game and in the end they will lose. Top of the evil empire is the ODPM
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ODPM = HarrieTRuth Harman! What an unfortunate choice of Christian (she would like that not) names - Ed
I have to say that when I am reminded that foreigners own our utilities and the enormous cost they are to us, it makes my blood boil. I can’t wait for the day to come when we get our services and country back. First however, we must get rid of the political trash that presently run this country or should I say ruin it. The BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY is a real hope for this country and a realistic chance of becoming government. If you are fed up with a country that lacks democracy and who’s politicians are only interested in power rather than country, then SUPPORT, DONATE, JOIN the BNP, Britains finest. It is our last chance.
Don’t get me on the subject of water companies. Here in Exeter, where we have constantly rising water bills, I’m one of the lucky residents of a street with (apparently) a Victorian water main (there’s no money to replace it you see). A few years ago, I was sharing a flat here with a lodger who complained to the water company about tiny, almost invisible, particles in the water. They said they would flush the main in the street, and so they did. You should have seen it! As the water came gushing out it was the colour of a ****** cup of tea.
Now, the reason the water out of the taps wasn’t also the colour of a cup of tea was that the normal flow of water down the main wouldn’t collect anything undesirable, so everything was therefore all right (apparently).
As my lodger said at the time, if Sainsbury’s sold you a tin of baked beans that was rusty round the edges (even if the baked beans looked fine) would you eat them?! Er…I don’t think so.
This country must learn that vital utilities which are also natural monopolies (like water) should NOT be in the hands of private, and often foreign, companies. Do the foreign shareholders care about the health of your family and the purity of what you drink? Not likely.
Incidentally, I keep reading about the worrying concentration of oestrogen in our water (presumably due to women taking the pill). Anybody know more about this? Are they trying to feminise British men? They probably are. That way, we’re less likely to have children and then they can ensure we die out eventually. If we’re feminised, this should also reduce our propensity to resist their political agenda aggressively.
This lack of concern about pollutants would also account for the lack of action on the 300 or so chemicals in the average Briton that don’t belong there (this research was reported in The Ecologist magazine a year or two ago).
Then we wonder why so many of us are getting cancer. Duh!
Thanks to the Tories who sold this off to the investors , I live in the southwest and pay the highest water charge in the country ; first we had to pay extra for the sewage treatment for cleaner bathing water for the tourists and now up it goes again to reline the pipes or what ever. Excuse me if this now belongs to a private utility should they not be paying for their own equipment out of their profits and shareholders dividends ? This is one of the biggest moneyspinners going , making vast profits out of something that falls everywhere free !
The classic case for all utilities that have been pushed out to the private sector is that they “sweat the assets”. Essentially the infrastructural network is one of the greatest costs for maintenance and depreciation, so they simply put as little back into it as possible.
In Australia and New Zealand they had power blackouts because of this.
Sure, the government is inefficient at running commercial organisations, but it’s just as bad at controlling and monitoring the private sector to achieve the outcomes it wants. The big difference though is that inefficient government benefits the workers whereas an inefficient controlling of the private sector benefits the shareholders.
I once worked in a complex which had a swimming pool. The owner was a staunch Tory supporter who did much outreach work for the party back in the early 90’s. I warned him that privatisation of any utility only led to destruction and despair. He disagreed, but when water was privatised, his water bill for filling the pool amongst other things went up by over 3000% (Zimbabwe style). He went out of business. He went to Peter Emery, who he had gone out leafleting for, voting for and trusting – he turned to the MP he’d supported hoping for some help. He was told to go spin on it. Anyone think the Tories have changed?
Privatisation of monopolies is foolhardy to say the least.
The government has had many occasions to seriously penalise failures by these utilities but it’s just allowed them to increase prices. Look at Gordon’s Pet Rock fiasco.
How often does the government ever take on the private sector in court for breach of contract and failure etc.. Never hardly, why? Gutless and too much incompetence to hide. Jobsworth freeloaders.
I also live in the South West and my water bill this year with South West Water Ltd., is £1081 !!!!
I shudder to think what it will be in 2015. The consumers in Devon and Cornwall, over the last 5 years or so, have had to pay to clean up bathing water (E.U. instructions). This meant 3% of the population paying to clean up 30% of the countries beaches. This work is all now complete, but according to a spokeswoman from SWW on television the other night, the consumers now have to pay the interest on the money they borrowed to carry out all this work! There is something drastically wrong here but neither the government or OFWAT are prepared to do anything about it.
Yes privatisation has led to problems, but consider the rise in our taxes, especially Council tax. It is not just the commercial lot who are jumping on the bandwagon.
I recall just before privatisation, my local water authority at the time (Wessex Water) thought they were god. They went around filling private wells with concrete. They issued regular dictats stating that THEY had full control over water from the time it left the sky. At least privatisation put a stop to that.
I am now lucky enough to have my own well and sewerage system.
Really, either national or privatised systems CAN work - provided they are properly regulated and efficient. I suggest that a BNP government might just ensure that this is the case.
Well do we now acknowledge that we have been dropped in it by the Conservatives, and who is still voting for them? Even our deep-in-debt Labour Party is doing their utmost to prove that they are more useless than the Conservatives.
Vast amounts of our infrastructure that is essential to our civilisation is now in foreign hands. Yet still people vote for the Liblabcon Artists, some people refuse to learn.
Let us hope more rally to the BNP.
Water is arguably the most basic of a human’s requirements, witness the appeals for clean water for Africa to cut back on the many deleterious consequences of not having it. Therefore water, food, heat, light and petrol constitute the Big 5 Must Pay Bills for any household. UK water companies have been bought by foreign companies, many of which are without any connection to the water industry, simply as a sound investment. These companies are now to be given new powers to force meters on millions of families at a significant extra cost of around 200 pounds per household. Since when do private water utilities have “powers”? And why should water effectively be rationed and reserved for the wealthiest?
This way of going about things gives us the worst of both worlds. The companies make a huge profit in the spirit of private enterprises, but the costs of investment in infrastructure, clean-up and new development are paid by the customer in the fashion of nationalised ones. Plus they are not chased to stop wastage, so where are those precious green credentials? On top of this, when consumption falls, Ofwat allows them to bump up the prices, so where is the free play of supply and demand? All in all, yet another massive con in the approved Liblabcon modus operandi. Have we really been voting for this? Seems to me we don’t ever actually get told what we’re voting for, let alone asked for our permission.
As a side issue, we are apparently drinking less bottled water but beware that fluoride will be added to 40% of our tap water without our consent if the government gets its way. The government is so keen on the idea that they are willing to pick the costs of any legal claims, they say. Strange, eh?
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Strange indeed, one might even say SINISTER. - Ed.
Just what happens when householders can no longer afford these bills for what are classified as ‘essential services’? Will the local authorities launch court atction against them or what? Can you imagine the courts clogged up with these civil ‘miscrants’? I doubt those who supposedly run Britain can even envisage such a situation developing, assuming people will find the money from somewhere to pay these bills - wrong. People are at their wits’ end now as to how to meet general living expenses at their present level, let alone with more imposts placed upon them. Added to my views, I would like to ask the BNP - exactly how do you expect to fix the problem?
@ Ex-pat loyalist:- Yes, you’re quite right. I’ve cut and trimmed to the bone just to stay on top of my expenses right now; I simply do not know where I shall find the cash to pay endlessly increasing heating costs, electricity and water. The government’s criminal failure to impose some control on these foreign-owned utilities will backfire against it; so many people will be reduced to poverty in such a short period of time, that hatred for the Regime will blossom as never before, and perhaps the BNP can gain thereby . . . but what of us, now? Let alone next year, and the year after? The prospect of my (our) sufferings (and possible criminalisation for failure to pay my - our - bills in the near future) helping to bring the BNP to power, somehow doesn’t give me much comfort right now.
After Peak Oil, stand by for Peak Water and then Peak Food. Meanwhile the scum who rule us, many of who can’t even get a credit card insist that we need even more immigration to do the jobs that the British won’t do at any price. And the spoonbills go clack clack.