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19
Dec 2024
'Scrap Ofwat', says MP as huge water bill increase announced for Harrogate and Knaresborough
Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon has called for water regulator Ofwat to be scrapped following the news that bills are to increase by 41%,
Yorkshire Water announced today bills would rise by £177 by 2029-30. This is above the national average increase of 36%.
It comes a week after it emerged last week Yorkshire Water, whose chief executive Nicola Shaw received a £371,000 bonus this year, spends around a third of customer bills on servicing debt and paying dividends to shareholders.
Mr Gordon called for Ofwat to be replaced with a tougher new regulator.
He said:
This is insulting and a kick in the teeth for customers in Harrogate and Knaresborough and across Yorkshire who are already enduring a cost-of-living crisis.
It’s outrageous that Yorkshire Water’s customers, including my constituents, are being told they must pay more when they aren’t even receiving the service they are paying for. Yorkshire Water are meant to be treating sewage, not dumping it in our rivers like the Nidd. Price increases when customers aren’t even getting what they pay for are outrageous and unfair.
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'Clear need to modernise infrastructure'
Ofwat today approved water companies spending £104 billion generated from increased bills on improving water infrastructure.
Skipton and Ripon Conservative MP Sir Julian Smith said higher bills "will understandably create anxiety for some households across Skipton and Ripon" but added:
There is also a clear and pressing need to modernise our water infrastructure, and investment is needed in order to tackle pollution, safeguard our drinking water supplies, and address climate change.
It is important that every penny of this funding is used transparently and efficiently. I will work closely with Yorkshire Water over this Parliament to ensure the additional money raised from constituents’ water bills is directed toward these critical projects.
Yorkshire Water plans to use the additional funding to deliver a 32% reduction in storm overflows and a 75% reduction in harmful nutrients in rivers.
It also plans to reduce leaks and help customers reduce the amount of water they use.
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