Union plea over water charges

Northern Secretary Peter Hain today faced fresh trade union demands to put on hold the introduction of controversial water charges in the North next month.

The Britain's General Union (GMB) revealed it had sent a letter to Mr Hain arguing that the bills, which will be issued on April 1, should be postponed because they would increase hardship.

The union criticised the British government for introducing a different levying system for the North from the rest of the UK and for failing to persuade householders in the North that they were not paying twice for their water.

As votes were counted in the Assembly Elections, the union also argued that the final decision on whether or not charges should be introduced should lie with the North’s politicians in a devolved administration at Stormont.

Eamonn Coy, GMB senior organiser in the North, explained: “The GMB has asked for the postponement on a number of grounds.

“The way the charge is levied is not used elsewhere in the UK and is considered by many to be grossly unfair.

“The introduction of the charge will give rise to hardship and the measures to alleviate hardship are not adequate.

“Not enough has been done to convince people that they are not paying twice for the same service.

“At this stage in the development of Northern Ireland’s political institutions it would make more sense to pay for the service from general taxation.

“The GMB has told the government that our view is that the final decision on charging how such basic and necessary services like water and sewerage are paid for should be left to the elected politicians in the devolved Assembly and not taken by ministers accountable to Westminster parliament.”

Voters have been telling the North’s political parties during the Assembly Election campaign that the scrapping of water charges should be their first priority if devolution returns on March 26.

The British government has insisted the charges are needed if the North is to improve its water and sewerage system to meet European Union standards.

However, opponents of the bills claim they amount to double taxation as householders are already paying for water and sewerage services through their domestic rates.

Members of the public have criticised the British government’s decision to link the size of bills to the values of people’s homes.

While water-metering is being offered to some sections of society like senior citizens, environmentalists are concerned that those who pay bills based on property value may be inclined to use more water.