Waterwatch Scotland, in its response to the Water Industry Commission for Scotland’s consultation “Gap Site and Vacant Properties Incentive Scheme”, reiterated points made in its response to the Draft Determination last year:-
‘Waterwatch Scotland supports the incentives proposed for retailers to identify customers not being charged as Waterwatch Scotland would support the principle that every customer should pay for what they use. However, Waterwatch Scotland has the following concerns:-
- concessions / incentives to retailers should not be at the expense of domestic customers;
- when non-paying non-domestic customers are identified, appropriate dialogue is required between the retailer and the customer before presenting the customer with an invoice;
- every customer must pay but must also have a clear process to do this;
- retailers must not put customers under undue pressure to recover unpaid water and sewerage charges;
- small businesses based within domestic properties must be protected against paying twice.’
Further clarity and transparency is required by the Water Industry Commission on elements such as to provide greater understanding into the charging process applied to vacant properties as opposed to gap sites.
To view the full response:
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Notes to editors:
Waterwatch Scotland (WWS) is the national complaints handling authority for all domestic and non-domestic water customers and customer representative body for the water industry in Scotland.
WWS is independent of Scottish Water, government and other water/sewerage service providers. Its role is to:
- Investigate Complaints
- Represent Customers’ Views & Interests
- Influence Policy
- Inform & Advise
WWS’ responsibility for second-tier complaints handling means that WWS can take forward individual customer grievances against Scottish Water or other providers.
WWS can also make statutory recommendations to Scottish Ministers, Scottish Water and other service providers, and industry regulators: Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) and the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS).
From time to time, WWS receives complaints which are of such importance or have a public-interest impact beyond the specific complaint itself, that WWS will issue a formal report on the complaint and greater issues raised.
In addition to the making of such formal reports and the findings and recommendations made, a key role of WWS is to continue to work to ensure that such recommendations are adopted in the interest of customers to mitigate and prevent future occurrences.
Issued by Waterwatch Scotland, Corporate Office, Forrester Lodge, Inglewood, Alloa, FK10 2HU