RESIDENTS across Redditch, Studley and Alcester will be among those with the lowest water bills in the country by the end of the current decade.
Industry regulator Ofwat has confirmed pricing plans for water and sewerage companies over the next five years and average bills for Severn Trent customers will fall by five per cent from £333 in this financial year to £316 by 2019/20.
Exactly how much residents will pay will depend on their individual circumstances and there may still be rises over the period as Ofwat’s price controls do not include inflation.
As part of the deal Severn Trent has also agreed to a series of performance targets, which could result in fines or bonuses totalling millions of pounds depending on whether or not they hit them.
The measures include slashing leakage from 450 megalitres a day to 424, fixing all visible leaks within 24 hours and reducing the average number of minutes customers are without water due to planned or unplanned interruptions lasting three hours or more from 15 to eight minutes.
The company has also pledged to increase the number of customers receiving help to pay their bills through its new social tariff and other measures from 11,500 to 50,000 a year by 2020.
Complaints about water quality will also be slashed from 13,000 to 9,992.
Steve Grebby, policy manager for the Consumer Council for Water, said it was good news for consumers and he welcomed the additional commitment for those people struggling to pay.
“Even if inflations remains at 2.5 per cent for the next couple of years bills will still be lower than they are now so it is good news,” he said.
“Companies need to keep in mind that small group of people struggling to pay. Water is an essential service that has to be affordable to everyone not just the top 70 per cent.
“It will be tough for the company to meet the performance measures but under the new regime they get rewarded for exceeding their targets so we shouldn’t be making it too easy for companies to outperform them.”
A spokeswoman for Severn Trent said they would study the regulator’s decision before responding in February next year.
“As Ofwat has highlighted, customers will benefit from improved services over the next five years – whilst bills will actually be falling in real terms. We are proud Severn Trent customers have the lowest average combined bills in the land, and with bills falling in real terms over the next five years, this is set to be the case until 2020.”
