By Bill Heaney
It used to be free, but that was just the public perception because it was incorporated in people’s domestic rates invoices. In other words, it was hidden away from public gaze.
But now it can cost you £1 for a glass of water and £2 or even £3 for a small bottle, and public water fonts have have disappeared almost entirely from our streets and parks. Don’t ask me what they charge for a bottle in fine dining restaurants. Anyway the secrecy bubble appears to have burst around the cost of Scottish water.
It beggars belief that some taxpayers are being charged £20 a week by Scottish Water since it rains so much and floods off the hills into our burns and rivers.
But Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie is raging about the cost of a glass of cool, not so clear Scottish water.
Dame Jackie has blasted utilities giant Scottish Water over an increase in charges for hard-pressed households, whilst awarding their senior executives eye-watering bonuses.
It comes in the wake of Scottish Water’s announcement that annual charges will rise by a whopping 8.8 per cent, piling pressure on stretched residents in the face of a continuing cost-of-living crisis.
The company announced recently that bills will increase in the coming financial year by £35.95 for the average household.
They have a brass neck given that sewage management is part of this charge and it is almost non existent around here where rivers, lochs and burns are badly polluted.
Scottish Water claims the rise in charges, due to kick in on – appropriately All Fools Day – April 1st, is necessary to protect water and waste services.
But residents have faced a tough year with increases in food, fuel, rent and mortgage costs, amidst rising inflation.
At the same time Scottish Water’s Chief Executive Alex Plant, pictured left, receives a reputed £295,000 bumper salary and eye watering top-tier bonuses of as much as £90,000. No wonder he’s laughing.
Commenting on news that Scottish Water charges are rising by 8.8 per cent Dumbarton Constituency MSP Jackie Baillie said “This eye-watering increase will pile pressure on struggling families in my constituency and it beggars belief that SNP Ministers nodded it through.
“With everything from water charges to rail fares to income tax rising, the SNP’s rhetoric on the cost of living has been exposed as nothing but warm words.
“The SNP should stand up for Scots and stop this increase from going ahead.
“This increase represents yet another rise in costs that already hard-pushed households in Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven and Helensburgh and Lomond will require to fund from limited budgets.”
Household customer charges generate around £1.5 billion annually for Scottish Water:
Unmetered Household Charges 2024/25
Council Tax Band Water Supply Waste Water Collection Combined Services
Band A £168.60 £195.66 £364.26
Band B £196.70 £228.27 £424.97
Band C £224.80 £260.88 £485.68
Band D £252.90 £293.49 £546.39
Band E £309.10 £358.71 £667.81
Band F £365.30 £423.93 £789.23
Band G £421.50 £489.15 £910.65
Band H £505.80 £586.98 £1,092.78