United Utilities profits double while water bills rocket to pay for longer overdue upgrades
Bills are rising to pay for investment into the North West's water network - but profits are only going in one direction
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
We’ve covered a winter of discontent caused by the water network on these pages before and United Utilities told us the same thing: record investment is coming, and bill increases are necessary to pay for it.
But their results, unpicked for today’s edition, show that profits have soared in line with water bills while that investment is happening. Which begs the question: did bills really need to increase so dramatically to fund those long overdue upgrades?
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Lancashire briefing
⛷️ Rossendale’s dry ski slope could be closed in a review of council-owned leisure centres. And there could be changes coming for a Rawtenstall museum and a Whitworth venue too. The Hill Ski Centre, which first opened in 1973 as a centre for skiing, snowboarding and other activities, is the focus of a new Rossendale Council leisure review. The Rawtenstall slope provides many community benefits but is costly and ‘constrained’ in offering new attractions, the council report says. Rossendale Council is reviewing all its leisure sites managed on its behalf by Rossendale Leisure Trust. Running costs, loans and customer income are key factors between the council and trust, which use a mix of cash from the council, Sport England and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The report suggests the leisure trust should focus on gym, sport and physical activity sites, including Marl Pits Swimming Pool. And other future options should be explored for the ski slope, the Whitaker Museum in Rawtenstall and Ashworth Centre in Whitworth. The trust manages a ‘diverse and ageing’ network of sites, the report says. And the ski slope’s future is ‘the most complex’ of three recommendations councillors are to consider on Wednesday, May 6.
🏗️ A 30-storey building that will become the tallest tower block in Lancashire is set to spring up in Preston city centre after being given the go-ahead by councillors. The blueprint for the 87-metre-high ‘Altura’ skyscraper was unanimously backed by members of Preston City Council’s planning committee – after they were told it would not be an “dominant” addition to the local landscape. If the now-approved plans come to fruition, the structure – which will incorporate 218 apartments, communal areas for residents and almost 600 square metres of ‘flexible’ office space – will stand on what is currently a small car park at the junction of Derby Street and Lords Walk, close to the city’s bus station.
🚌 A seasonal bus service offering summer day‑trippers easier access to the historic village of Rivington, its Lever Park and famous Pike returns on Sunday, May 3. The route linking Chorley, Adlington and Rivington operates on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Lancashire County Council is reintroducing service 125R, utilising Lancashire Combined County Authority bus grant funding from HM Government. The service will operate on Sundays and Bank Holidays until November 1.
🗳️ A Reform UK candidate in Blackburn with Darwen’s May 7 local elections has been expelled from the party over his alleged former membership of the British National Party. John Black, aged 55, standing in Little Harwood and Whitebirk, is one of three candidates nationwide to be thrown out following an investigation by anti-racist campaign group HOPE Not Hate and the Daily Mirror. The other two are David Prior, standing in the Gateshead ward of Saltwell, and George Parnell, standing in Hampshire (Fleet Town) and Hart (Fleet Central). All three feature on a leaked list of BNP members and contacts from 2007-2008. It is believed that the list included members at the time, former members and individuals who showed interest in the party but did not officially join. Mr Black told The Mirror he had never been a BNP member.
United Utilities doubles profits while water bills rocket to pay for longer overdue upgrades
By Michael Holmes
It “beggars belief” that water bills are rocketing when United Utilities is making so much money, water campaigners have said.
River Action’s CEO James Wallace hit out after financial results showed the water firm, which supplies seven million people across much of the North West, including Lancashire, enjoyed a more than doubling of pre-tax profits to £779m over the past year.
That is after it hiked bills by 9% last month, adding about £57 to people’s annual bills, under five-year plans agreed with Ofwat that will reportedly see bills rise by a total of 32%.
Wallace said: “It beggars belief that bills are rising to make up for decades of underinvestment since privatisation, while private profits have soared.
“Nothing will change until the privatised water industry is fundamentally restructured for public benefit.
“Anything less risks continuing the normalisation of environmental harm on an industrial scale.”
The Lancashire Lead asked United Utilities to justify price hikes for customers.
It said it has “built the most comprehensive support scheme in the sector” to help those “struggling to pay their bills”.
It added: “This year, we will help 422,000 households across the North West, with a target to help one in six customers with their bills by 2030.”
But it did not address residents who can afford to pay but are still being stung by the surge in costs.
