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Water Strategy

Yes, I will do so. In the brief time that I have left, I should like to make a further point, which hon. Members will be interested in, about bad debt and the non-payment of water bills. The figures on the non-payment of water bills are outlined on page 78 of ““Future Water””, in paragraph 13. The latest figures show that £575 million of water bills went unpaid out of a total water bill in England of around £7.5 billion. An analysis of those figures shows that a number of people cannot pay because of changes in circumstances; it also shows that a number of them will not pay. The water companies have made that point to me, and I have undertaken to consider it. Of course, there is no liability on the landlord for the water bill and the water company has no right to have access even to the name of the tenant. It is therefore difficult for them to pursue matters. It is unfair that people who pay their bills are subsidising others—not those who cannot pay, but those who will not pay—to the tune of some £11 per head.