CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR
WATER News Release (CCWater25/08) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 18 November 2008
The Consumer
Council for Water today (18 November) welcomed the recommendations
put forward in Martin Cave's interim report on competition in
the water industry, and is echoing the call to get competition
right for business customers first.
Dame Yve Buckland, Chair of the Consumer Council for Water, said:
"Competition to date has not served business customers well.
While competition for some business customers has existed since
2005, no one has switched supplier. Only about 2,000 businesses
are currently eligible, and there is little financial advantage
for them to make the change. Business customers have told us that
they are frustrated at this lack of progress."
Research launched last week by the Consumer Council for Water and
Ofwat has shown, however, that household customers have mixed
feelings about whether or not they would like the opportunity to
choose their water and sewerage provider.
According to the research, fifty seven per cent of customers said
that they supported the principle of competition in the water
industry. When they understood that in practice some customers
could be worse off, only a third of those surveyed still supported
competition, one third did not, and the rest were unsure.
Dame Yve continued: "If competition for household customers
is to happen it needs to live up to customers' expectations,
deliver tangible benefits, and those benefits need to outweigh the costs.
"While ninety per cent of customers said that they are happy
with the service they receive from their supplier, they are not as
happy about the cost. Those customers that welcome competition
believe that it would lead to lower prices, with most saying that
they would expect to save 20 per cent by switching supplier.
"The government needs to decide if competition in the water
industry could realistically deliver that. If not, customers will
need to be convinced of how competition would, in practice,
benefit them. They will also want assurances that lessons have
been learned from mistakes in other sectors. Less than half of
those surveyed (forty eight per cent) thought that competition in
gas and electricity has been good for customers.
"We look forward to working alongside Ofwat and government
on their reviews of competition, so that the views of consumers,
business and domestic, form the basis of any changes to the system."
The full report, 'Research into household customers'
views on competition in the water and sewerage industry,' is
available at http://www.ccwater.org.uk.
Ends
Notes for editors
1. The Consumer Council for Water was set up in October 2005 to
represent consumers in England and Wales.
2. The Consumer Council for Water costs each water customer 25p
per year.
3. The Consumer Council for Water has gained £130 million from
water companies in reduced prices and extra investments.
4. The Consumer Council for Water has to date taken up over
42,000 consumer complaints about water and sewerage companies, and
secured £4 million in compensation and rebates fur customers.
5. The Consumer Council for Water is a non-departmental public
body reporting to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs and the Welsh Assembly Government. It has a committee for
Wales, and four regional committees in England.
6. Our website is http://www.ccwater.org.uk.
For public enquiries to the Consumer Council for Water, please
contact via email on enquiries@ccwater.org.uk, our national
number, 0845 039 2837, or via minicom on 0121 345 1044.
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