Water UK trumpets £10bn sewage plan – but we’re all paying for it

Bills will see a ‘modest’ increase – but we don’t yet know what that means, writes James Moore

Consumers will have to repay the £10bn investment through bills (PA)

A question for Water UK: who are you trying to kid? The industry trade body, chaired by former Labour cabinet minister Ruth Kelly, has issued what it calls an “apology” for sewage spills, together with a £10bn plan to deliver “the biggest modernisation of sewers since the Victorian era”.

This is more than triple the current level of investment, we are told. There will also be a new “environmental hub” next year that “will for the first time give everyone near-real-time information on overflows”.

However, there’s no mention of who is going to pay for all this. Perhaps it’s because the answer is you and me, through higher bills.