The water industry is bracing for a £400 million hit from a rise in employers’ national insurance contributions over the next five years, as businesses continue to count the cost of Rachel Reeves’s budget.
The accumulated cost to all of the water companies in England and Wales works out at £80 million a year, according to water industry sources, who said companies had now submitted their calculations to the industry regulator, Ofwat, in a bid to allow them to recoup the sum by putting up customer bills.
Ofwat decides how much water companies can bill customers for their services. It is due to unveil its final determination on prices for the 2025-30 period on December 19. Water companies are hoping that this determination will take