This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Sarah Boyack works together with charities on water charges
16/09/1999
Environment Minister Sarah Boyack has given Scottish charties a £1 million boost by reviewing their water charges.
After talks with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) the Minister asked the three water authorities to defer increases planned for next year.
The move was announced to Parliament today, and in a letter to the SCVO from the Minister.
Ms Boyack said:
"The voluntary sector plays an important role in Scottish society and relies heavily on fixed, annual grants. When the water authorities decided last year to increase the average charge by a relatively small amount, it was clear that many such organisations needed a longer period of notice if they were to find the extra money to meet the increase.
"After hearing the SCVO's concerns, I am pleased to announce that the three water authorities have agreed to immediately restore in full the relief from charges previously given to the affected organisations. The higher charge levels will now come into force from April 2000, with the full charge being phased in over five years.
"Deferring this year's charge increases until next year, together with the lengthy phasing in of charges over a full five years, will give all the organisations in these sectors the time they need to plan their budgets for paying the fair cost of the services they receive."
BACKGROUND
1. For many years a range of charitable and voluntary organisations benefited from reliefs from water and sewerage charges. The provision of reliefs was applied inconsistently across Scotland with organisations in one part of the country benefiting while similar organisations in another part did not. The statutory basis of many of these reliefs was removed in 1996 and since then they have been provided at the discretion of the three Scottish water authorities.
2. In 1998, the water authorities and the Scottish Water and Sewerage Customers Council decided to begin phasing out, over a number of years, reliefs from 1 April 1999 for some organisations such as charity shops and related offices and warehouses. The removal of reliefs resulted in higher bills for some 5,000 properties across Scotland. The average increase in charges was under £100 per year. The relief given to many other charitable and voluntary organisations such as residential care and nursing homes, Church Halls and sports and youth clubs was untouched.
3. The value of reliefs being phased out this year is about £1 million, with the total cost of all reliefs being around £13 million a year for Scotland.
News Release: SE0635/99
16 September, 1999