Reference: 15/CU/04/8 ISBN: 1 84057 775 4 Published Date: 15/07/2015 Since 2010, the Government has embarked on a package of welfare reform which aimed to make the benefit system fairer, more affordable, and to reduce poverty, worklessness and welfare dependency.
The reforms have been wide ranging and impacted on many households in receipt of benefits and tax credits. With the advent of Universal Credit the whole structure of welfare payments is also changing.
This report examines the implications of the welfare reforms for water companies and their customers, in order to help identify appropriate strategies water companies may take in adapting to them.
Specifically the report provides details of the welfare reform programme, impact, implementation and future roll out. It investigates customer views on how the welfare reforms have affected their ability to pay water charges, and assesses the impact of reforms on water companies and their customers through an analysis of changes in customers' payment behaviour, debt and arrears. |