Environment secretary minded to ditch national social tariff plan

Environment secretary, Therese Coffey, has told the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee she was not minded to support the creation of a single national social tariff, as she gave evidence to its inquiry into the work of Ofwat last week.

Coffey said she was “still finalising my thinking” but that she was “not intending to move to one single scheme across the country”. She argued: “A more localised approach will almost certainly have better outcomes.” She shared that she would be looking for greater consistency from social tariff schemes though, giving the example of consistent eligibility criteria for access to help.

Ahead of the session, the Consumer Council for Water provided supplementary evidence to the committee, warning that a “change of direction from the current secretary of state has ended the prospect of a new scheme funded through a central pot, which could have lifted up to two million households out of water poverty. The decision means customers could face the double whammy of unaffordable bills and an environment starved of vital investment”. It added: “Helping people struggling to pay their water bill should be a public policy matter and not be in the gift of private water companies.”

Elsewhere in the session, Coffey said existing regulatory arrangements work well and Defra’s Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat was “perfectly clear”. She defended the Government’s handling of storm overflow pollution control.

The secretary of state also confirmed an updated National Policy Statement for water resources infrastructure was forthcoming, and said “active consideration” was being given to the idea of a national water plan.