This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Water charge discount proposed
31/08/2004
A new approach to setting water charges has been
proposed to provide more help for families on low incomes
and for low volume business users.
Outlining proposals contained in the Executive's
consultation on Paying for Water Services, the Environment
Minister Ross Finnie set out his intentions to introduce a
water charge discount for families in receipt of Council
Tax Benefit.
The Executive is also proposing by 2010 a system of
charge bands for un-metered businesses that will reflect
broad consumption levels.
At an Executive conference on the consultations, Mr
Finnie said:
"We want to see a water industry that meets the highest
possible standards of water quality and environmental
compliance and that is capable of supporting new housing
and business developments.
"Decisions on how to meet these objectives and how to
pay for them will affect every Scottish Water customer and
we recognise that it needs a consensus on what constitutes
a fair basis for setting future charges.
"This consensus must support our vision of social
justice by ensuring that charges are affordable for low
income groups, while supporting jobs and prosperity by
striking a fair balance between different customer
groups.
"To help inform these decisions, I encourage the widest
possible participation in the consultation process now
underway."
The Paying for Water Services conference was held at the
Roxburghe Hotel, Edinburgh, and was attended by delegates
representing a wide range of customer groups,
representatives from the local authorities and from the
water industry and its regulators.
Current exemptions for small voluntary organisations and
churches have been extended until any new charging
arrangements for non-domestic customers come into force in
2010.
The consultation, Paying for Water Services 2006-10,
seeks views on the approach that should be adopted in
charging different groups of customers during the next
charges review.
The consultation, Investing in Water Services 2006 - 14,
seeks customers' views on the scale and content of the
investment that should be made in water services between
2006 and 2014.
Responses will help shape the improvements in drinking
water quality and environment protection to be achieved;
how sensitive issues such as odour nuisance from wastewater
treatment works should be addressed; and how far the
capacity of Scottish Water's infrastructure should be
expanded to allow new developments to take place.
The consultation can be viewed on line at
www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations
The deadline for responses is October 12, 2004.