Mr. Chris Jones:

It is slightly different in Wales in that customers have the option to have a meter for free. Generally, the rules around how one charges customers for a monopoly service are set by the economic regulator reflecting Government policy. It is a system that seems to work for us. The system works on an unmetered basis unless people buy a new property, in which case there is a meter there, and if the customers want to, they can opt to get a meter for free. This means that those who feel they have low consumption of water and that this should be reflected in the bill have the opportunity to have a meter fitted.