“Grotesquely unfair” – Southern Water criticized for 91 per cent price hike

The South’s 91 percent water bill increases have been called “grotesquely unfair” by opponents who fear society’s poorest will be affected.

The water company has announced plans to charge households an average of £915 a year by 2030, the biggest increase in the country.

He said he needed more money to bring costs in line with inflation and to invest in infrastructure.

Southern Water Head Office (Image: The Argus)

Lewes Liberal Democrat candidate James MacCleary has taken Southern Water to task in recent years over its history of dumping untreated sewage.

He told The Argus: “Water, sewage disposal, these things are not optional. We cannot go to an alternative provider like our broadband or television and there is a competitive market.

“It’s Southern Water or nothing, so for people on low incomes already struggling, they are now facing an almost 100 per cent increase in their bills. This seems grotesquely unfair.

“Income taxes are at record levels and we should once again subsidize these record profits.”

James MacClary (Image: Liberal Democrats)

This year’s bills are around £420 and were around £436 in 2014, which would be around £582 today when adjusted for inflation.

James, who is also a Newhaven town councilor, called on more people to take a stand against water companies.

“As someone who pays for this myself, this really makes me angry,” he said. “In my community there are people who struggle on a daily basis to pay for their weekly groceries, and then there are Conservative MPs and others who think it is entirely reasonable to expect this that these people are paying almost 100 percent more on their bills for poor service.”

It comes just weeks after tens of thousands of homes in Hastings were left without water for four days after an old South water main burst.

It was also revealed that Southern Water dumped 317,285 hours of sewage into waterways last year – the equivalent of 36 years.

Read more: Southern Water commits to stopping pumping sewage into village pond… by 2030

In 2021, Southern Water was fined a record £90 million by the Environment Agency for illegally dumping water into the sea.

People took to social media to express their concerns. Warren Bennett said: “Why do we stand by and continue to be attacked by these greedy scammers.

“We have become a nation of whiners with no intention of doing anything. We should all refuse to pay our water bills until the leaks are fixed, they stop dumping their sewage into the sea and they stop paying dividends to their shareholders.”

The water company is already offering a 45 percent discount on bills to more than 120,000 customers – and this number is expected to rise to 200,000 by 2023.

Sewage discharged off Seaford in 2022

Southern Water customer manager Katy Taylor said: “The reported figures are loosely based on bill increase proposals we submitted to Ofwat when developing our draft business plan for 2025- 2030.

“Ofwat decides what fees our customers must pay, based on what we have proposed to deliver in our plan to meet regulatory requirements.”

Water companies will meet regulator Ofwat this week, where it will decide how much they will be allowed to charge customers between 2025 and 2030.

Ms Taylor added: “Pending confirmation from Ofwat on our plan and the corresponding increase in bills, the figures quoted have been increased by a third to take into account estimated inflation levels over the next six years.

“We share everyone’s concerns about rising payments in the face of a cost of living crisis. We have managed to keep bills low, with the average combined water and sewerage bill having only increased than £2 in the last ten years in nominal terms.

“We agree with our customers that we now need to charge more to be able to align our bills with inflation, rising costs and, most importantly, to be able to invest more to meet our customers’ expectations and protect and improve our environment.