What steps she is taking to help reduce water Bills.

People have every right to be frustrated about bill rises—years of neglect and under-investment have left our water infrastructure crumbling, and those increases now show the cost of putting that right. This Government are focused on tackling the cost of living, preventing those huge bill increases from ever happening again by fundamentally changing the system, and protecting the most vulnerable by strengthening schemes such as the guaranteed service standards and WaterSure.

Thames Water’s typical metered charges increased by 40.7% this financial year, and prices will rise again each year until 2030. While our water companies have been mismanaged and reform to bring down the cost of Bills is needed, more can be done to encourage customers to meter their water usage. The average non-metered household in London is charged £81 a year more than a metered household, but that is not widely known, so will the Government do more to advertise the cost-saving potential of water meters? What further steps is the Minister taking to bring down the average water bill?

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I am a huge champion of water meters, which not only help with Bills but help reduce people’s water use. In turn, that helps with abstraction, especially in areas where we have many chalk streams. I am very keen to look at what more can be done in that space. Ofwat has a water efficiency fund, through which it is looking at innovative ways in which we can talk to the public and get them to understand, as the hon. Lady rightly said, the benefits of having a water meter, not only for their bills but for the environment.

Does the Minister have plans to introduce a national social tariff? It was not in the recent white paper, but Independent Age, which is a national charity based in my Constituency, estimates that such a tariff could lift up to half a million pensioner households out of water poverty entirely.

I share my hon. Friend’s concern about the ability of so many people in both our constituencies to afford water Bills. That is why, over the next five years, water companies are going to be doubling the number of people getting help through social tariffs. We have also reformed WaterSure, which provides support to people with disabilities who might require more water use, or those who might require it for various other medical reasons. We are focused on making sure that the most vulnerable in all our communities are able to get the water they need at a price that is affordable for them.