To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the volume of water lost through leaks from water pipes managed by (a) Severn Trent Water and (b) South Staffordshire Water in each of the last five years; what steps he is taking to reduce the volume of water lost through leaks from water pipes; and if he will make a statement. (283944)

Water companies report annual leakage figures to Ofwat as part of their annual regulatory returns. Ofwat publishes leakage performance annually in its Service and Delivery report. Ofwat sets the water companies targets to reduce their leakage to the economic level, the level of leakage at which it would cost more to make further reductions than to produce water from another source. Since 1997, total leakage has been reduced by 27 per cent. in England and Wales. All water companies met their leakage targets during 2007-08.

Leakage performance for Severn Trent Water and South Staffordshire Water for the years 2003-04 to 2007-08 was as follows: