Julia calls on new Child Poverty Unit to address South West Water bills

2.00.00pm GMT Tue 30th Oct 2007

Local MP Julia Goldsworthy has renewed calls on the government to tackle high water bills in the South West, following plans unveiled yesterday to set up a dedicated Child Poverty Unit.

Unless action is taken, the bills faced by South West Water customers mean that the government will miss their own targets on Child Poverty in Devon and Cornwall, according to Julia Goldsworthy.

In a letter to ministers Ed Balls and Peter Hain, Ms Goldsworthy has pressed the government over what role the new unit will play in identifying and promoting policy to tackle the high charges.

Despite a long-running campaign by Cornwall's five Liberal Democrat MPs, and a succession of meetings with Ministers - at DEFRA and the Department of Work and Pensions- as well as with the regulator OFWAT, the government has yet to come forward with a solution.

Ms Goldsworthy has called for a meeting of all relevant departments, agencies, MPs and South West Water to discuss possible ways forward. She has stressed the importance of attendance by the Treasury, who have so far not engaged with this issue but will be crucial in delivering any solution.

Commenting, Julia Goldsworthy MP said:

"For ten long years the government have ignored the mess created by a botched privatisation, which has left water bills in the SW the highest in the country. Not only is this unfair, it leaves many households on low incomes struggling to pay.

"If the government are serious about tackling pensioner and child poverty, they cannot continue to ignore the plight of South West Water bill payers.

"It's all very well to set up a new unit, but people in Cornwall will be judging this Government on their record of inaction on this important issue. I, like many of my constituents, will remain sceptical until we see concrete evidence of action, not just another quango.