Water bills set to surge by 20% in bid to fix ‘damage’ as Steve Reed warns ‘rationing’ could be imposed

Water bills are set to increase by at least 20 per cent in order to “repair the damage” done to the nation’s sewage system.

Environment secretary Steve Reed has admitted that people will be “angry” with these increased costs by up to £100 by 2029.

Reed said that the sharp hike was required to “repair the damage” done from years of poor investment.

Echoing the rest of his Labour colleagues, he attributed the sewage system’s poor condition to the Conservatives, insisting that they “left our water system in ruins”.

On Thursday, independent regulator Ofwat is set to announce that bills will rise by more than a fifth of current charges in the next five years.

Consequently, the average bill payer will have to shell out £20 more each year, with the average bill each year increasing from £448 by the end of the decade.

Reed offered the concerning warning that within the next 15 years, “demand for clean drinking water will outstrip supply, leaving parts of the country facing water rationing unless things change.”

“The public is right to be angry. Tory recklessness has caused untold damage,” Reed wrote in The Telegraph.

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Ofwat previously announced earlier this summer that it would permit bills to increase by 21 per cent to fund fresh investment in infrastructure, and has been in negotiation with 11 providers, which have requested that charges be raised much higher.

For instance, Southern Water – the provider for Kent, Sussex and Hampshire – has advised that the regulator should raise bills by 84 per cent, while Thames Water is pushing for charges to rise by 53 per cent.

Reed claimed that the Tories had failed to build new infrastructure, including new reservoirs and pipes, as sewage spills left rivers, lakes and seas “choked by pollution”, adding that money from Britons went to “line the pockets of executive and shareholders”.

He added: “If you see cracks in the wall of your house and do nothing about it for years, the problem gets worse and you end up paying more.

“That’s what’s happened with our crumbling water and sewage system. Customers have been left to pay the price of Conservative failure.”

Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “Labour spent years making promises to the public about improving waterways yet, six months after the election, all they do is talk about the Conservatives.

“Labour’s lack of energy and action will not wash when bills rise on their watch.

“The Conservatives began the crucial reform to ensure that in the long-term Britain’s water system is clean and sustainable – that requires billions of pounds of private of investment if bill-payers are to be protected.

“The Government must work out what it’s doing and who will pay for this investment, or our water bills will keep rising under Labour.”