First Minister Humza Yousaf has promised there will be no increase in council tax this year, but Scottish the bills dropping on doorsteps in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute will still be higher than ever before.
Scottish Water is planning an inflation busting 29 per cent price increase over three years which will cause council tax bills to rocket, according to today’s Sunday Mail.
Documents passed to the Sunday Mail by a whistleblower have outlined the huge increases being proposed by the utilities giant, which many people blame for the appalling state of local sewage polluted lochs, burns and rivers.
The organisation’s new £295,000 a year chief executive Alex Plant wants to increase bills by 8.8 per cent in 2024/25, and then repeat until 2026/27 with the same amount.
It would leave an average council tax band D property paying £617 for water and waste water – an increase of £139. Scottish Water’s proposed price increases have been sent to the Scottish Government, who can express a view on them, and are also awaiting approval from the Water Industry Commission for Scotland.
A Scottish Water source said: “On December 12 the board took the decision to increase charges for water and waste water by 8.8 per cent for 24/25 and the same for the following two years. This means a 29 per cent cumulative increase over the next three years. On its own the 24/25 increase would be nearly five per cent above inflation.
“The Scottish Government is still considering whether to ask the board to reconsider its decision as it did two years ago.
“In the meantime Scottish Water’s plan is to go ahead with the 29 per cent, while council tax is frozen and in a cost of living crisis.”
First Minister Humza Yousaf’s SNP government announced a council tax freeze earlier this year in a bid to lessen the blow of the cost of living crisis.
But Scottish Water’s plans would mean bills would increase anyway because water charges are contained in the same invoice.
Since 2021, three senior Scottish Water bosses have been paid about £3 million in total including £1.1million in bonuses. Former CEO Douglas Millican received £520,000 in 2022, including his £270,000 salary, a long-term incentive payment of £160,000 and a bonus of £80,000.
Scottish Water has been accused of pouring taxpayers’ cash down the drain after spending almost half a billion pounds on private contractors.
Unison, the local government trade union, said a £467.2 million bill shows the firm’s spending is out of control because much of the work could have been done by their own staff sitting in the depot.
Labour’s Dame Jackie Baillie, left, said: “This is yet another shocking water price hike on struggling Scots during a cost of living crisis. While Scottish Water top brass are still getting eye-watering wages and massive bonuses, action must be taken to ensure the people of Scotland do not pay the price.”
The Dumbarton MSP added: “The Scottish Government should cap the proposed rise and Scottish Water should use their reserves to give Scots a water tax rebate and lower water charges now.”
When questioned by MSPs in October, Alex Plant claimed not to remember how much he earned before admitting the massive pay packet. In December the body in charge of regulating Scottish Water was itself accused of “unacceptable financial management” by Audit Scotland, leading to its chief executive Alan Sutherland quitting.
The Water Industry Commission for Scotland is responsible for holding Scottish Water to account and making sure it offers value for money but was called out for claiming boozy dinners on expenses at more than £200 per person and spending £77,000 for one of its bosses to go on a course at Harvard Business School in Boston.
A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: “The process of agreeing the annual scheme of charges for 2024-25 with our economic regulator is ongoing. Affordability and investing for the future remain key considerations when the Scottish Water Board proposes charges on an annual basis, in line with our regulatory settlement. We will publish charges for the forthcoming year once this process is concluded.”
The Scottish Government was approached for comment.
The filth that is sewage which is discharged untreated in rivers, burns and lochs from Dumbarton to Garelochhead, Faslane, Arrochar and Oban and beyond.