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Water Strategy

That is correct, and no doubt adopting a rising block tariff—I shall be brief because the hon. Gentleman has already dealt with it in detail—would reduce the number of households that were eligible for the vulnerable persons regulations. The tariff caps at a certain level people who are on a metered charge. The two measures would work hand-in-hand, but because it will be some years before we see the benefits of any new policy—apart from anything else, it would require the even wider introduction of meters—something should be done now to place upon the companies an obligation to increase drastically the uptake of the vulnerable persons regulations. That should be done by setting targets for uptake. I know that there are hon. Members—some probably in this Chamber—who object to targets, but that would be one very good target to introduce. As the Minister knows, the all-party group on water is conducting an inquiry at this critical time, for all the reasons that the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell set out in his speech. I understand that the Minister will attend the launch of our report on 2 April, and I hope that everybody here today will also attend. During the course of the inquiry, our right hon. Friend Lord Whitty, who is one of the team, along with the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) and the former Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), asked whether it would be possible"““to extend the definition of customer service””" as a performance target in the price review to include "““looking after our most vulnerable customers””." That would be one way of ensuring that more was done. I also make a plea to set the vulnerable persons regulations cap not at the regional average, which still gives people in the south-west a cap that is £100 higher than the average, but at the national average. Although compulsory metering can bring in tariffs, in the meantime we must do something about the vulnerable persons regulations, and in the long term we must also consider the situation of people who will not be helped by compulsory metering but will still have large bills. After all that is done, we must still examine the benefits system. I urge the Minister to consult Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions on that issue, so that we do not still have a significant group of people whose problems have not been resolved, even when we have secured long-term solutions to this intractable problem. He must ensure that he talks to his colleagues and that they talk to him about the likely residual problem, so that it can be dealt with. Overall, the water package enables us to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I know that my hon. Friend the Minister is doing a great deal, that he has studied carefully the links with the programme for energy conservation in homes, and that he is a strong believer in the need to tackle both matters at the same time. That would be very helpful, because far too many of our constituents still pay not just 10 per cent. of their income for water, but 20 per cent., 25 per cent. and even occasionally more than that, for their utility bills, including fuel and water.