The Consumer Council for Water Central and Eastern Committee is inviting members of the public to its next meeting on Wednesday 4 May in Birmingham, where the committee will question local water companies about the quality of their customer service.

Representatives from Severn Trent Water, Anglian Water, South Staffordshire Water, Cambridge Water, Veolia Water East and Essex & Suffolk Water will be at the meeting.

Dame Yve Buckland, Chair of the Consumer Council for Water Central and Eastern, said: “Nine out of ten customers tell us that they are satisfied with the service provided by their water company, and if something goes wrong we know that customers want the problem to be sorted out quickly.”

“Unlike other utilities, household customers are not able to choose their water supplier, but systems are in place to help protect customers. For example, water customers can contact the Consumer Council for Water to raise a complaint about a water company, and we will investigate as necessary. Since we began in October 2005 the Consumer Council for Water has dealt with over 85,000 complaints against water companies and returned over £11 million in direct compensation and rebates for customers.”

“At the meeting we will be pushing for improvements where we’ve seen adverse trends in complaints, and questioning water companies on how they plan to make changes to help reduce the number of times their customers need to make a complaint.”

Other issues on the agenda include updates on companies’ activities and operations and feedback on the number of complaints received by the Consumer Council for Water about the water companies.

The meeting will take place between 1:30 pm and 4:00 pm on Wednesday 4 May at Victoria Square House, Victoria Square in Birmingham, B2 4AJ. The agenda and full supporting papers will be available on the meeting day, or can be requested in advance by contacting the Consumer Council for Water’s Central office on 0121 345 1017.