Water UK CEO David Henderson says rises to water bills are needed to help invest and fix the 'crumbling' system, but that support systems are in place for anyone who is struggling to pay their bills.
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00:00I understand that bill rises are never welcome, but it is important to remember that since
00:032010, bills have been falling.
00:05In real terms, each and every year, they've been falling.
00:07And if they'd only risen with inflation, they'd be about a quarter higher than today.
00:10So yes, these rises are higher than that, but it's because we're having to play catch-up.
00:14We have not invested enough, and as a result, our system is crumbling.
00:17It's increasingly unable to cope with the needs of businesses and the needs of people
00:21and the environmental outcomes that we want to see too.
00:24So that is why we're having to invest so much more today than if we'd invested earlier on.
00:28And if we don't invest now, though, it's going to get worse later on.
00:30We are seeing houses unable to be built, we're seeing businesses unable to expand.
00:34Even a cancer hospital in Cambridge was delayed because of a lack of water.
00:37So it's becoming very serious for our economy and for people.
00:40So we desperately want this investment.
00:42We're sorry about the bill rises, but anybody who finds them too much should get in touch
00:46with their local water company, because we are tripling the level of support available.
00:50Payment holidays, discounts and other forms of support are available to anybody who will
00:53find these rises too hard.