Question
I want to raise the issue of water outages, which I know you have also been working on in Sussex, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have previously lobbied the Minister about upgrading how we see the risk of a water outage in the national risk register, and I was pleased to see it upgraded from the lowest form to the highest form of risk in the most recent register. However, I want to flag some issues, particularly with the priority services register, that we have encountered during outages in Hastings. The first issue relates to blocks of flats with multiple residents but one bill payer, such as a management company, which is particularly common in sheltered accommodation. Southern Water has told me: “Across the water industry…arrangements are designed around identified account holders and bill-paying customers. In centrally billed or bulk-metered properties, such as some blocks of flats, water companies typically have no direct relationship with individual residents and do not hold information about…personal circumstances. This creates a recognised industry challenge”. We really need to look at that in relation to resilience. Secondly, I am aware that the risk register is not updated in line with the electoral register, so the register is not updated when people move out and it ends up with so many people on it that delivery becomes unsustainable. Will the Minister look at those issues?
Answer
I certainly will look at that.
Verdict: AMBER (35/100)
The Minister gave a clear undertaking to look at the question of blocks of flats with a single bill payer and no resident-level data. The reply said nothing about the other part of the question, which concerned the priority services register, how often it is updated, and whether it aligns with the electoral register. Because that part went unanswered, the person who asked would likely need to submit a follow-up question to get it addressed.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will the Minister look at the issue that, in blocks of flats with multiple residents and a single bill payer (such as a management company), water companies have no direct relationship with individual residents and hold no information about their personal circumstances, which affects resilience during outages? | Addressed | Direct | The item asks whether the Minister will look at the issue of blocks of flats with a single bill payer and no resident-level data, and the reply's 'I certainly will look at that' is a clear, unambiguous commitment to do exactly that, which is what the item asked for. |
| Will the Minister look at the issue that the priority services register is not updated in line with the electoral register, so people who have moved out remain on it and delivery becomes unsustainable? | Not Addressed | Generic | The reply's only statement responds to the first item's 'that' and says nothing about the priority services register, its update practices, or its alignment with the electoral register. |