Water industry developments

The annual meeting of the Water Industry Sector Committee was held in June. Mike Dineen from Severn Trent and Rosealene Ballan from Yorkshire Water were elected as Chair and Vice Chair.

The Committee placed on record its warm thanks to Jim Anderson, Scottish Water, who has retired from the sector committee.

The Sector Committee membership is shown below and we would urge all those branches who have not yet appointed a member to do so.

Pay 2010
It's still early in the pay round and the economic climate is still challenging but we can report some news:

Anglian Water - 2.3% from 1 April 2010, 1 year deal.

Portsmouth Water - 2% for 2010.

Scottish Water - a one year deal form 1 July giving 2.4 % at lower end and 1.5% of pay spine will be agreed subject to ratification by the Scottish Executive.

Severn Trent -2% plus free shares (offer)

South West Water - 0.5% (imposed) plus bonus (to be confirmed).

Thames Water - offer expected at the end of the month.

United Utilities - claim submitted for substantial increase.

Yorkshire Water, 5 year deal, year 1 2% plus a one off non consolidated 1% bonus.

Please ensure you send details of any pay negotiations to Mike Jeram at UNISON Head Office (m.jeram@unison.co.uk) and we will share the information with other pay bargainers in the sector.

Reorganisations
As ever several companies are undertaking reviews and reorganisations. Anglian have looked at, and are changing (from 5th July), the working hours/patterns in Waste. Thames has TUPE'd 140 staff and up to 700 jobs in Maintenance are at risk of outsourcing. If Maintenance stays in house up to 140 jobs will go by natural wastage.

United Utilities is continuing to reduce its multi-utility model and has sold or is in process of selling off business units e.g. water and wastewater businesses in Australia, gas and electricity businesses in the UK. In Scottish Water the major re-structuring that took place over the last 8 months is now virtually complete with many more staff leaving under the voluntary retirement scheme.

Water, Environment and Transport Service Group Conference
The first Water, Environment and Transport Service Group Conference was held on 13 June. Conference debated over 20 motions many of them dealing with issues important to members in the water industry, including pensions, sickness absence management, apprentices, health and safety, and concerns about the standard for washing PPE clothing. More details of the motions and the action that the Executive will be taking will be sent to branches soon.

Million Voices for Water and Environment
As part of UNISON's Million Voices Campaign Water and Environment Charter has been produced. The Charter will set the agenda for UNISON's representations to the UK and Devolved Nations' Governments.

Scottish Water - not for sale!
UNISON Scotland are mounting a new campaign to safeguard the public status of Scottish Water following calls by a number of influential figures in Scotland for a re-examination of privatization.

A UNISON briefing has been issued which outlines the huge costs of privatisation to the water charge payer, including higher borrowing costs, billing systems, and dividends It also points to the beneficiaries of privatisation being the corporate financiers, consultants and company directors - particularly of the big overseas water multinationals who would target the privatised company.

UNISION also points to the continued 'marking down' of the value of Scottish Water's assets, from £15bn when the corporation was created, down to current discussions of around £1bn, This is in order to make the package an attractive price for the private sector, particularly given the massive programme of investments the taxpayer has funded. Despite this investment and the additional costs of delivering this service in Scotland charges are lower than the UK average.

So far, the Scottish Executive has continued to indicate that the status quo will remain.

Competition and water charges
The previous Government set up two reviews in to competition and innovation in water supply (Cave) and charging for water (Walker).

The Cave Review concluded by recommending that more competition be introduced for bulk water supplies in the commercial sector, but it agreed with UNISON that there was insufficient evidence to justify introducing a similar approach to the domestic market.

It also recommended that the retail arms of water companies be established as stand alone entities with a view to them gradually being separated off entirely. This aspect had been supported by OFWAT for some time.

The Walker Review examined the ways in which consumers pay for water and sewerage services. The review looked at both the elements that make up a bill and the basis on which consumers are charged.

Walker recommended that much more metering should be introduced although the review shied away from advocating universal metering. It also recognised the need to tackle water poverty issues more effectively and consistently throughout the country.

The Coalition Government has yet to indicate what action it will take on these reports.

The Floods and Water Management Act
The Act became law shortly before the General Election. During the final stages of the Bill in Parliament, a number of last minute amendments were supported by the Government and included in the Act.

One of the amendments concerns the use of Social Tariffs designed to help those suffering from water poverty. The issue of affordability was considered in greater detail as part of the Walker Review. However the Act's limited provisions for social tariffs can be seen as a very tentative step towards a more comprehensive approach as recommended by Walker and supported by UNISON.

The Act's provisions on social tariffs are enabling in character and do not prescribe exactly what water companies have to do. However the provisions override OFWAT's past objections to the introduction of social tariffs on the grounds that they amount to a cross subsidy from one customer to another. These provisions are welcomed by UNISON in as far as they go.

UNISON's approach to water poverty is based on the twin track approach of having on the one hand a fair system of tariffs, probably tied to meters plus a targeted benefit from Government that would be paid to those customers suffering from water poverty. This new provision in the Act is based on the principle of cross subsidization and no additional funding is intended from Government to address this problem.

Join the Water Industry Sector Committee
Membership of the committee is open to all water company/sector branches. The committee's role is to provide a forum for activists in the water industry to exchange information on developments in their organisation and guide the Water and Environment and Transport Executive on policy issues for the sector. Email your contact details to s.jean-baptiste@unison.co.uk

The current members of the Sector Committee are:-

Mike Dinneen, Chair, Severn Trent

Rosealene Ballan, Vice Chair, Yorkshire

Alison Ayres, Southern

Tony Field, Anglian

Andy Forward, South West

Dave Morris, Portsmouth

John Wilkinson, United Utilities

Steve Roberts, Welsh Water/Dwr Cymru

Scottish Water will be nominating a new member shortly.

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