1 Aids from the Solidarity funds for Housing (FSL) to the disadvantaged households having unpaid water bills

2 PLAN 1. The definition of a legal right to water supply 2. A potentially concerned public: the « poors » in France 3. The previous systems (before 2005): the aid funds for the water outstanding payments Description et Reports

3 PLAN (next part ) 4. The aids for the water outstanding payments from 2005 within the framework of the solidarity funds for housing (FSL) 4.1 Small presentation about the history of the solidarity funds for housing 4.2 New competence of the FSLs in 2005: the aid to households for the unpaid water bills 4.3 The new FSLs ’ financial means 4.4 General principles controlling the aids conditions 4.5 A new competence that progressively develops 5. An increased protection of households through the FSL in favour of the right to water

4 PLAN (final part ) 6. The agreement conditions of the aids peculiar to each fund - examples 7. The conditions of the aids for water outstanding payments: financial aids from the fund + remission of debts from the supplier on all or part of the outstanding payment 8. The remissions of debts agreed by the water suppliers 9. Examples of agreements 10. The means to make the funds work (management, secretariat) 11. National report, especially figures Conclusion

5 1. The Right to Water Supply Any person or family having specific difficulties, particularly because of the maladjustment of his/its resources or living conditions, has the right to get an aid from the community (…..) (to access a decent and independent house or stay therein) and to have water, energy and phone supply in its house) [Act dated 13th of August 2005 on the liberties and local responsibilities]

6 2. The figures of Poverty in France In 2004, 3.6 million people under the poverty line, i.e. under 50% of the median (less than 657 € per month) 1.1 million recipients of the integration minimum income (441 € per month for one person, 661 € for two people)

7 3. The Previous Systems (before 2005): the Aid Funds for Water Outstanding Payments Following to a national agreement signed between the State and the national representatives of the water suppliers On a voluntary basis with the suppliers and the territorial authorities Remissions of debts from the suppliers (1.34 F (= 0.20 € per subscriber) Co-financing certified by the State : (2.5 Million € in 2001, 2 Million € in 2004) allowing the financing of subsidies used to reimburse the suppliers having granted a remission of debts the part of the bill which is not theirs and which they owe (diverse taxes : VAT, sanitation taxes)

8 Report on the Previous Systems (before 2005): the Aid Funds for Water Outstanding Payments Number of aided households: 15,000 per year About fifty departments had these aid funds for water outstanding payments at their disposal

9 4. The Aids for Water Outstanding Payments from 2005 within the Framework of the Solidarity Funds for Housing (FSL) The solidarity funds for Housing (FSL): former funds (created in 1991), existing in each department and granting individual aids to disadvantaged households having rent and maintenance charges problems (including water fees due to the lessors) and aids for the access to housing (including the opening of counters), and also financing the social monitoring. The act assigns to the FSLs the aids for water outstanding payments to households, from This allows managing the whole debts related to housing within a single system: concern of coherence Concomitantly, these funds ’ responsibility, previously shared between the State and the General Council, is now assigned to each General Council: decentralization.

10 The FSL s ’ Financial Means Financing of the General Councils Voluntary participations of the partners: social bodies, municipalities, council houses lessors, Electricité de France … Remissions of debts granted by the suppliers Agreements provided for between the solidarity funds for housing and the water and energy suppliers.

11 These aids ’ principles Individual aids, not systematic, granted on the basis of an investigation taking into account the household ’s resources and difficulties. The Fund ’s aid is not an allowance No national scale for the regulations and conditions of aids specific to each fund Example : different resources thresholds Possibility to also finance social monitoring measures. General principles, which guarantee a minimum of rights for the households on the whole territory

12 The Households ’ Rights Provided for by the Law on the Whole Territory The conditions for aids can depend only on the level of the households ’ resources and patrimony and on the importance and their difficulties ’ nature Prohibition of conditioning the FSL ’s aid: -to a requirement of prior residence in the department -to a financial participation from a municipality -to a financial participation or a remission of debt from the lessor or the supplier -to a participation from the lessor or the supplier in the application fees The households are not required to pay application fees Possibility of direct submission of the case to the court Emergency procedure in order to avoid cuts and evictions

13 5. In Addition to the Financial Aids, an Increased Protection of Households The solidarity fund ’s aid involves an increase in the households ’ rights and protections : - no water cut when an aid following to a water outstanding payement has been required to the FSL, waiting for the application to be examined and for the decision to be rendered (the period of time for the FSL to render its decision shall be limited to 2 months), - no water cut for households aided by the FSL during the next 12 months after the grant of this aid, whatever its nature. Finally, a decree in progress will provide for an information duty to the general councils by the suppliers, for households threatened with cut.

14 6. The Conditions of the FSLs for Granting Aids for Water Outstanding Payments They are specific to each solidarity fund and then they vary from one department to another They depend on: - the households ’ resources, - the households ’ size (income per person or per consumer unit), - the amount of the debt, - the remaining after the payment of the rent: not too high, not too low. Actually, households with an income deemed as too high are not aided.

15 Examples of Aids Conditions Thresholds are often calculated on the basis of the amount of the integration minimum income : between the integration minimum income and 3 times the integration minimum income for 1 person: threshold between 440 € and 1,320 € for 2 people : threshold between 660 € and 1,980 €

16 The FSL of the Meurthe et Moselle department monthly resources <= integration minimum income € for 1 person : 600 € (= 440 € €) for 2 people : 820 € (= 660 € €)

17 The FSL of the Bas-Rhin department Income threshold for the grant of the fund ’s aids = 60 % of the threshold for the grant of a council house, i. e. - for 1 person : 1,141 € - for 2 people : 1,860 € - for 3 people : 2,236 €

18 7. Aids Terms The aid and the remission of debt cover all or part of the debt according to its importance and the « philosophy » of the financiers and fund ’s partners (general council, suppliers). The aid is in subsidy form or in interest-free loan form or is a combination of subsidy + interest-free loan according to the resources, the remaining and the capacities to repay The lack of remission of debt may be revealed not through a more important FSL ’s aid, but through an increase in the part of the debt the households will pay (the FSL ’s aid remaining as such).

19 8. The Amounts of the Remissions of Debts Granted by the Suppliers In general, an annual amount of remission of debts is granted by each supplier having signed an agreement. This amount is calculated on the basis of 0.20 € or € per subscriber. In certain departments, the FSL supports the households and the suppliers grant remissions of debts without having signed an agreement.

20 Example of Amounts of Remissions of Debts For the FSL of the Yvelines department, a total of remissions of debts of 70,230 € is granted by 5 suppliers and one sanitation association, during 2006 (for 280,000 subscribers out of a population of 1.4 million inhabitants). Beside this, the Yvelines department has paid around 2.8 million euros to its FSL (for all the aids) The social lessors (council houses) have paid 280 thousand euros and the energy suppliers have paid around 63.3 thousand euros of grants.

21 Example of Amounts of Remissions of Debts For the FSL of the Alpes-Maritimes department, a total of remissions of debts of 63,000 € granted by 4 suppliers, during (for 307,000 subscribers out of a population of 1.06 million inhabitants). Beside this, the Alpes-Maritimes department has paid around 5.9 million euros to the FSL The social lessors (council houses) have paid 18 thousand euros and the energy suppliers have paid around 470 thousand euros of grants.

22 9. Examples of Agreements Commitments in matter of remissions of debts But other commitments : non cut or restoring of the supply mutual information suppliers ’ participation in the commissions taking decisions about the aids.

The Helpful Means There are at least 10 people per department necessary to a fund ’s running For information only, in 43 departments where we knew the figures for 2005, 49,220 households had claimed for an aid for water outstanding payments in 2005 and 38,063 had been aided for that, i.e. an average of 1,118 application files per department for water outstanding payments (and 865 consents).

Report on the FSLs ’ Aids for Water Outstanding Payments 62 FSLs have granted aids to households with unpaid water bills in Total amount of the aids for water outstanding payments paid by the FSLs: 6.5 Million € (loans and subsidies) The subsidies ’ part was 95%, the interest-free loans (317,000 € have represented less than 5%) These amounts do not take into account: - either the remissions of debts granted by the suppliers, - or the exceptionnal supports, beside the fund, granted by municipalities

25 Amounts of the FSLs ’ Aids in 2005 (for 93 known FSLs out of 100) Amounts% Aids for Rent and Maintenance Charges Outstanding Payments Aids for Water Outstanding Payments Aids for Energy Outstanding Payments Aids for Phone Outstanding Payments Aids for the Access to Housing Payment Guarantees Households Social Monitoring Total of the Aids

26 Amounts of the FSLs ’ Aids for Water Outstanding Payments i.e. 2,5 % of the FSLs ’ total expenditure for the whole FSLs 6 % of the amounts of aids to households for the FSLs in which the aids for water outstanding payments do exist. The part of the aids for water outstanding payments within the aids to households varies a lot according to the department, from less than 1% to 20%. The amount of the aid in comparison to the number of inhabitants: in average, 0.20 € per inhabitant.

27 Number of Households aided for Water Outstanding Payments 46,500 households aided in 2005 for water outstanding payments (by 55 known FSLs out of the 62 FSLs granting this aid in 2005) i.e. 9.2 % of the global number of households aided by the FSLs for the whole FSLs % for the FSLs in which these aids do exist. The part of the households aided for water outstanding payments go from 5% to 20% of the aided households.

28 The satisfaction rate for applications is high: about 77% of the applications give rise to an aid. (in 2005, for 43 departments : 49,220 households had claimed for an aid for water outstanding payments and 38,063 were then aided) The number of aid for 10,000 inhabitants: 7.6 in average per 10,000 inhabitants

29 Average of the Aids for Water Outstanding Payments The average of the aids for water outstanding payments is 127€ per households aided for water outstanding payments. The averages of the amounts of aids per aided households go from 30 € to 200 €. These averages do not include either the remissions of debts from the suppliers or the additional aids from the municipalities. The average of the aids for water outstanding payments is inferior to the average of the aids for rent outstanding payments (862 €) and to the average of the aids for energy outstanding payments (192 €). The part of water in the households ’ budget is inferior to the part of housing and energy: the amount of the water outstanding payments is lower than those of the debts on these other points.

Conclusion The new system initiated in 2005 has slowly started but it develops. But the actual generalisation of the aids for water outstanding payments (provided for in the law) was not immediate. The 1st brake to a fast generalisation was that the former funds of aids for water outstanding payments did not exist everywhere. The 2nd brake: the solidarity funds for housing have principles which are a bit different from the former funds of aid for water outstanding payments: fungibility of the financiers ’ participations, although the former funds of aid for water outstanding payments worked through remissions of debts from the suppliers.

31 Conclusion (next part) The law has provided for that the solidarity funds grant aids for water outstanding payments as from But the law has also provided for the conclusion of agreements between each general council and the water suppliers. The conclusion of agreements has constituted, for certain general councils, a prerequisite for the opening of the FSL ’s aids for water outstanding payments. [Although the law has explicitly mentioned that the fund ’s aid must not be subordinated to a financial participation or to a remission of debts from the supplier or the lessor.] And there are lots of water suppliers (3rd brake). 4th brake: 2005 has been a busy year for the departments ’ general councils, considering that they have been assigned the solidarity funds for housing.

32 Conclusion (final part) The opening of funds to aids for water outstanding payments and the conclusion of agreements between the fund and the suppliers are progressively getting done. The report 2006 will be more important in matter of interventions for water outstanding payments. In France, having regard to the high cost of rent and energy, the households ’ requests and the FSLs ’ aids in matter of outstanding payments, rent and energy, will remain preponderant.