Debate Magazine
From The Metro YOU don't need to go through the bureaucratic hassle and expense of setting up an Orwellian system for finding non-payers of the water rates (Metro, Tue). Rather than have landlords put tenants' details on a central database so that water companies can chase them up for payments, simply make the property owner/landlord responsible for paying water bills. He or she then collects the money from the tenants. This method is cheaper and avoids the totalitarian probabilities that are created by any database. Richard Hewins, London. Correct. It would be a good idea to do this with Council Tax anyway, and the same general logic applies to other things closely related to each home, such as the TV license and utility bills. The landlord can round up the rent (and deposit) demanded and average it all out, or he can agree to add on the actual bills received each month to the net rent, that's up to him.
