Fixing of charges for water servicesS
15.—(1) The Scottish Ministers must ensure—
(a)that water pricing policies provide adequate incentives for users to use water resources efficiently; and
(b)an adequate contribution of the different water uses (disaggregated into at least industry, households and agriculture) to the recovery of the costs of water services, based on the economic analysis required under section 5(2)(c) (characterisation) of the Act.
(2) In doing so, the Scottish Ministers—
(a)must take account of the principle of recovery of costs of water services (including environmental and resource costs) and in accordance with the polluter pays principle; and
(b)may have regard to the social, environmental and economic effects of the fixing of charges for water services, and to the geography and climate of the region affected.
(3) The Scottish Ministers may, in accordance with established practices, disapply paragraph (1) in relation to a particular water use activity, provided this does not otherwise compromise the purposes and the achievement of the objectives of the Water Framework Directive.
(4) If the Scottish Ministers do not fully apply paragraph (1), the reasons for not doing so must be reported in the river basin management plan (or the next update of it).
(5) In this regulation, “water services” has the meaning given in section 23(4) (definition of water services) of the Act.