Water charges will be fair and affordable - Woodward

A package of protections which guarantees that eligible low-income households should spend no more than 3% of their income on water charges was unveiled by the Government today.

The new income-based affordability tariff was described by NIO Minster Shaun Woodward as a clear indication of how Government had listened to concerns that charges had to be fair and affordable particularly for the least well-off in society such as pensioners and lone-parents.

He revealed that under the new proposals as many as 200,000 households in Northern Ireland who presently qualify for Rates Rebate, Housing Benefit or the new Special Rates Relief Scheme would benefit. The scheme will also extend to all 16/17-year-old householders and to children leaving care up to the age of 21.

"For those on low incomes, no-one will pay more than £180 regardless of the value of the property in which they live," the Minister said.

"I want to go further and give extra help to people who may be living in lower value houses or flats. For those living in these households we will introduce two further tariffs. Houses valued up to £70k will pay £90 (a 1.5% income cap) while houses valued between £70 and £100k will pay £135 (a 2.25% income cap). For people in these households that means maximum bills will be £90 and £135 respectively.

"I am very concerned that we need to help people prepare for these charges, even though people in Northern Ireland will pay no more than the average paid by anyone else in the United Kingdom. Because we want to help people we will phase the charges in over three years. I can tell people now who qualify for this protection that when their first bills arrive in April 2007 the most that they will have to pay will be £60 and many will pay as little as £30 in that first year."

Mr Woodward said the Government had listened carefully to those people who said "water poverty" must be avoided.

"We recognise this could be a real problem which is why we are introducing the Affordability Tariff," the Minister continued. "And we will spend the next 16 months working hard to ensure that everyone who is entitled to this protection gets it."

(MB/SP)