Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has indicated hard-pressed households will see the end of spiralling water bills next year as he came under fire for doing little to help.
Many families in Devon and Cornwall pay more than £1,000 a year as South West Water has the highest charges in the country, despite a £50 per household government subsidy.
The Secretary of State this month wrote to water companies urging them to keep bills in check amid the growing political row of the rising cost of living.
In Environment Questions in the Commons yesterday, Labour's Shadow Environment Secretary Maria Eagle said families want "action from the Secretary of State, not a weak letter".
But Mr Paterson said privatisation of the water industry depends on having a "rigorous and robust" regulator, and hailed the tough approach of watchdog Ofwat's new chairman Jonson Cox.
He argued this was lacking under Labour, who oversaw bills rising by 20% to £389 in the last five years of Government. He said: "When the new price review comes through, I think (Labour) will be pleasantly surprised to see that prices will be held and that some may fall."
Ms Eagle said the Government should make all water companies sign up to an affordability scheme in a bid to cut bills.
She challenged Mr Paterson to add the new rules into the Water Bill, when it comes back to the Commons next week.
But the Environment Secretary insisted the reform would amount to a "universal tax".
South West Water's average charge is still £499 – £111 above the national average – a result of botched industry privatisation in the 1980s .
The Exeter-based firm will shortly decide how much it intends to increase its range of charges from April next year.
Gary Streeter, Tory MP for South West Devon, said in the Commons: "The people of the Westcountry have been suffering the pain caused by their water bills for many years.
"Given that the wholesale price of water is not rising, in that it falls from the sky and is free, is (Mr Paterson) convinced that the regulator is robust enough to ensure that rises will be kept to a minimum?"
