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There should be no separate bill in Northern Ireland for water and sewerage services and households should not pay any additional charges until April 2009, says the Independent Water Review Panel.
The Independent Water Review Panel proposals will save consumers over £140m.
The panel, set up in June by the Minister for Regional Development, Conor Murphy, argues that the Direct Rule proposals on water and sewerage services should be abandoned, saving consumers around £143m in 2008/09 and £153m in 2009/10.
Panel chair, Professor Paddy Hillyard said:
"Let’s be clear: Northern Ireland households shouldn’t have to pay twice. They are already paying on average £160 per household for their water and sewerage services."
Full IWRP Report
(342kb PDF)
In its first report, the panel says water and sewerage charges should be an item on domestic rates bills and collected in the same way; the money should be earmarked for Northern Ireland Water.
From 2008/09, this will amount to about £109 million and the rest will be paid from general taxation through the Northern Ireland Block Grant, the report proposes.
One of the members, Joan Whiteside OBE, said:
"Our intention has been to restore public confidence in the arrangements for financing and delivering our water and sewerage services.
We have been determined to ensure that the people of Northern Ireland get value for their money as citizens and service users; that the funding mechanism is fair and progressive; and that people’s payments openly cover the costs of providing water and sewerage services and nothing else.”
The Stormont Executive will now consider the report, which also proposes that water metering should be discontinued for the foreseeable future, claiming meters would bear down most harshly on the poorest families and that there are other cheaper ways to conserve water.
It accepts the need to spend heavily on sewerage services but suggests that it may not be cost effective to invest more money to meet higher targets on water purity.
The Panel also recommends that Northern Ireland Water’s target to reduce operating costs by 22% should be raised to 40% in view of inefficiencies in the service. More vaguely, it says the target for capital expenditure efficiencies of 27% should be ‘more challenging’.
Another report will be issued next year on protecting people in poverty. Meanwhile, the report recommends that the current affordability scheme should be extended to both rates and the water and sewerage element.
For more information and the full report visit the Independent Water Review Panel website.
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