Water agency boss warns households with no provide that payments should rise anyway
South East Water chairman Chris Train said customers must pay more to prevent further shortages, despite East Grinstead, West Sussex, and Tunbridge Wells, Kent having no reliable supply
Households have been struggling(Image: Getty Images)
A water company boss has warned bills must rise despite 30,000 customers being left high and dry.
South East Water chairman Chris Train has said folk face paying more to prevent further shortages. Homes and businesses in and around East Grinstead, West Sussex, and Tunbridge Wells, Kent, have been without a reliable water supply since the weekend.
Locals have been unable to wash and schools and businesses have been forced to close. Water supply points have run out and a lorry delivering bottles became stuck in the mud. The disruption follows a shortage before Christmas when for two weeks 24,000 properties in the area were left without drinking water.
But in a letter to the environment select committee Mr Train said the water provider had been unable to invest in ‘resilience’ because regulator Ofwat had refused to sign off on planned increases in bills. He said Ofwat’s rejection of ‘necessary and appropriate delivery plans’ meant it had been unable to properly prepare for the speed of climate change and ‘other developments which have increased demand for water’.
South East chief executive Dave Hinton has previously blamed working from home for putting stress on the system. The suggestion bills should rise is likely to anger South East’s customers struggling without a supply.
They have already seen steep increases in bills which rose by 20% to £294-a-year on average last April. That is just for water as the company does not provide sewage services.
Environment committee chairman Alistair Carmichael said Mr Train’s letter ‘fails to show a proper grasp on the seriousness of the situation in which the company now finds itself’.
“We shall want to have a further evidence session to get to the bottom of the multiple problems of South East Water,” he said.
“Their customers deserve answers and to know that they have access to safe and reliable water. The company will not be allowed to avoid that.”
South East Water initially blamed frozen pipes and Storm Goretti for the ongoing disruption to supply. The environment committee is recalling South East to give further evidence.
A spokesman for South East Water said it remained ‘committed to resolving the immediate issues facing customers in both Kent and Sussex’ while ‘continuing to seek to obtain the investment to deliver the much-needed improvements in resilience’ to the network.
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