Northumbrian sets out plans for national vulnerability hub

Northumbrian Water has proposed a national hub to assist vulnerable customers and those struggling financially.

The company has entered a bid into Ofwat’s innovation fund to make the hub a one-stop shop that brings together all available assistance for vulnerable and financially struggling customers.

CCW’s recent independent affordability review highlighted the need for a joined-up approach to providing help in ways households could easily access. It recommended a national social tariff available regardless of where a person lives, to remove the “postcode lottery” of support.

Claire Sharp, customer director at Northumbrian told Utility Week the “ambitious bid for vulnerability” would be a one-stop shop for customers to see all the help available to them.

“It will be a service for people to get all the help they can benefit on all household bills and beyond by bringing together all the support available for people struggling financially, or in other ways, and connecting with those customers and making it simple to access.”

She said if the bid is successful, the funding will make it possible to move forward with a national service and a focus of the company’s Innovation Festival in October will be dedicated to developing the hub.

“This is a great example of innovation in this space. This is something that can really make a difference to customers’ lives,” Sharp said. “Instead of having to search they can put their details into the hub and see all the help available. This hasn’t been done before, although it’s been talked about lots. We are committed to moving it forward.”

Ofwat’s John Russell previously told Utility Week he hoped to see more customer-focussed submissions to the innovation fund and something the National Energy Action (NEA) was keen to see as a key theme in the challenge.

Within CCW’s recent affordability review was a suggestion that projects awarded funding through the innovation competition should be assessed for their impacts – positively and negatively – on affordability and vulnerability.

Eradicating water poverty by 2030 is one of the Public Interest Commitments made by the sector, which Northumbrian and United Utilities are leading. Northumbrian has linked up with National Energy Action (NEA) to set up a water poverty unit to learn across sectors to learn how to assist people experiencing hardship.

Water poverty lead at NEA, Jess Cook, told Utility Week there is much to learn from other sectors. “The history of fuel poverty is more established than water poverty and many people still don’t feel water is an issue. The cost of water is relatively cheap but the group of people who struggling are not struggling with one bill in isolation.”

She said it was important to escalate the water poverty conversation but said first it was essential to establish an agreed definition.

“If eradication is the goal that has to be an agreed definition – it’ can’t be relative or moveable,” Cook said. She contributed to CCW’s affordability review, which highlighted the energy sector’s approach to data sharing and auto-enrollment into the Warm Homes Discount scheme, which is intended to be replicated with the single social tariff.

Cook said a single national scheme would make it simpler for people to access help and for third-parties to offer advice.

The design of the social tariff is still a work in progress, Cook explained and added that the funding conversation is one of fairness and sustainability. Distributing a cross subsidy across the country based on need was put forward as the fairest approach.

There is currently no accepted definition of water poverty however thresholds of three per cent or five per cent of disposable income being spent on bills are used as benchmarks.

For Northumbrian that equates to around 22 per cent of the customer base – around 425,000 customers. At present around 225,000 are being supported through bill reductions and tariffs.

Sharp said the momentum from both CCW’s and Ofwat’s reviews must not be lost before the national social tariff was created.

“That’s the one that really is at the government’s doorstep to set out a timeline for how it can take shape and can we be ambitious enough to get it in place by 2025 for the next price review. It will take a lot of work to get the details right on how it’s going to work but CCW has set out a brilliant ambition to support 1.5 million customers across the country, so let’s keep that momentum going. The water companies and other organisations are supporting the review and the work.”