Anglian Water: Bills Rise Over Next Six Years

2 December 2013, 13:18 | Updated: 2 December 2013, 14:29

Anglian Water has announced bills will be going up over the next six years, but it plans to keep the costs below the rate of inflation.

Up until 2020, the company's pledged to spend £60 million on leakages, invest £5 billion on improving services and keep any increases to bills below the rate of inflation. It means costs will go up by around £28 over the next six years.

Peter Simpson, Anglian Water's CEO, said: "We know household budgets are under pressure, so we hope our pledge to peg back bills for the next six years, and to protect them from higher inflation, will offer help and give reassurance to our customers."

The pledge was made today as industry regulator, Ofwat, begins to put the future plans of all water companies under the spotlight.

The company said it will hold down bills in 2014/15, as part of the bill increase previously agreed with Ofwat will be waived. Between 2015 and 2020, Anglia Water says more efficient ways of working along with lower levels of profit and interest will save money that will be used to benefit customers.

To help anyone struggling to pay bills, the company's bringing in a new tariff and from 2015 the Anglian Water Assistance Fund will be boosted by 25%, to put £1 million a year aside to help customers who need the most help and support to manage debt.

Mr Simpson said: "More people than ever before will be in control of how much they use, and how much they pay.

“But there won’t be a compulsory programme to force people to use them. Meters save water, and our customers told us they think it’s the fairest way to pay for what they use.

“Extreme weather is becoming the new norm. A changing climate means we’re going to see more unusual weather, more often. We need to plan for this, because we don’t want anything to get in the way of a safe, clean, reliable supply of water.”