Thames Water today announced it was seeking to levy an extra £30 per household this year on top of ordinary increases in water bills – and this is just the start. In total the extra amount Thames Water wants from each household means average water bills would rise this year from £354 to £400, according to a Consumer Council Water spokesman.
Thames Water today announced it was seeking to levy an extra £30 per household this year on top of ordinary increases in water bills – and this is just the start. In total the extra amount Thames Water wants from each household means average water bills would rise this year from £354 to £400, according to a Consumer Council Water spokesman.
Thames Water says the extra money is to pay for three things:
Anne Snelgrove slammed the planned increase as an extra tax on Swindon families. She said ‘This is not acceptable – why should hard pressed Swindon people pay for a sewage tunnel in London and be responsible for other people’s unpaid bills? This punishes the people who are honest and pay their bills on time.
Instead of passing the costs onto Swindon families, Thames Water should use their profits to pay for this. Last year, Thames Water paid their shareholders £90 million from their profits. It’s wrong to make families pay even more for essential water when massive profits are being made.’
A decision to allow Thames Water to put bills up again will be made later this year. No other water Company is planning to increase bills in this way.