Professor David Hall, author of the most comprehensive report on the proposed reform on the Water Service, has said that the inevitable result of privatisation would be higher bills.  In an interview conducted during a recent visit to Belfast to address anti-privatisation activists he said that privatisation would “only increase the coast and increase the prices”.   The reason for this is that it costs more for a private company to borrow the money required to maintain the network.  According to Professor Hall - “if you borrow capital through Government or through a Government company, it is cheaper in terms of a lower interest rate than if a private company borrows.”  He calculates that if the water industry in England was renationalised it would actually save £900 million every year, the equivalent of 10 – 12 percent of the current average annual water bill.  When asked about what local politicians should do about the Water Service, Professor Hall’s advice is clear - “do the figures and very rapidly abandon the idea of privatisation … keep it in the public sector”.