Rebecca Smith MP, Member of Parliament for South West Devon, has penned a joint letter with Conservative Devon MPs to urge the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to reconsider axing the £50 water bill rebate for South West Water users.
The letter explains that “the annual subsidy was introduced in 2013 to help bill payers in a region where water bills have typically been higher than the national average, and where average salaries have continued to trail behind the national average”. It goes on to add that “the scheme helped to keep customer bills as low as possible, particularly where South West Water sees demand for its services more than double, to cope with the needs of ten million tourists throughout the peak holiday season”. “Our constituents already contribute heavily towards South West Water's infrastructure costs”, they argue, “supporting over 860 miles of coastline and maintaining the high standard of 'Blue Flag' bathing beaches, with a third of those beaches located in the South West alone.”
This comes after Rebecca’s Oral Question to the Secretary of State in Parliament. She was the first local MP to speak out against the cuts, pointing out that the Southwest’s water bills are burdened with keeping a third of Britain’s bathing beaches clean and calling on the Minister to reconsider his decision.
The Minister skirted around Rebecca’s question, instead referring to social tariffs. Customers are only eligible for social tariffs if they have a household income of less than £18,725, or if they are in receipt of certain benefits. While this support, which is already in place, is welcomed, it will do little to bridge the divide between water bills in the Southwest and the rest of the country.
Residents in the Southwest face some of the highest water bills in the UK. Other utility bills have also ballooned after the energy price cap was raised 10% and the Winter Fuel Payment was axed. Household budgets will be squeezed further still by the latest figures out today, with a hike in energy bills increasing inflation more than expected to 2.3%. The Government, which had previously pledged to cut energy bills by "up to £300", are instead raising them.
This, Rebecca has repeatedly warned, will only serve to widen the gulf between the Southwest and the rest of the UK where annual salaries sit £921 below the national average. This feeds into the broader picture of a Budget which did not mention Southwest once. Rebecca has spoken out against this oversight, calling it “Labour’s forgotten region”. These are points which Rebecca was keen to drive home in her joint letter with Conservative Devon MPs.
Explaining the reason for the joint letter, Rebecca Smith MP comments:
Whether it’s the decision to withhold Derriford investment, snatching HS2 funding allocated for the Tavistock line, announcing the disastrous family farm tax or hiking the Southwest’s water bills, this Government is quickly developing a destructive pattern of behaviour in the Southwest. The Government’s blatant disregard for the needs of our region will not wash.
That is why I have chosen to write a joint letter to the Secretary of State with Conservative Devon MPs. We wish to reiterate the need for the £50 water bill rebate to be reinstated. We’re not asking for any special favours, just that the cost to keep Britain’s prized beaches clean is fairly distributed.
