24 April 2007
We received a petition asking:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to introduce legislation to solve the short term funding problems that have been caused by the cuts that Defra has made, and threatens to continue, to the budgets of British Waterways and the navigations the Environment Agency, and to ensure that long-term funding is made available to enable the inland navigation authorities to maintain, improve and restore these important parts of our national heritage."
Details of petition:
"Our inland waterways are a unique national asset that provide an important contribution to the quality of life for millions of our citizens. According to British Waterways, there were 300 million individual visits to the canals in 2005 and we are deeply concerned that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has seen fit to reduce British Waterways’ grant by some £60 million over the next 5 years and that of the Environment Agency by over £20 million in this financial year. We believe that these cuts will have a devastating effect upon the well-being of inland waterways and put at risk many urban regeneration projects.
Read the Government’s response here
Over the past ten years British Waterways has been enormously successful in the management of its waterways and the Government is committed to ensuring it is able to continue to do so. In just the past seven years, British Waterways has facilitated the restoration of more than 200 miles of canals and waterways and reduced its maintenance backlog under this £180 million programme. This has only been possible because of substantial government investment by Government in England, Wales and Scotland of £524 million since 2000. British Waterways is a good example of where the Government’s increased investment should be viewed against performance over the last 10 years and not just on the basis of a short term adjustment.
Ten years ago, the total revenue figure, on a like-for-like basis, was £98.7 million; this year, it is £189.4 million. Over the past six years in England and Wales British Waterways has received £452 million, and its waterways in Scotland have received some £72 million from the Scottish Executive giving a total Government spend on £524 million. This includes £42 million between 1999 and 2004 - which helped British Waterways clear its £90 million backlog of safety arrears. It did this eight months ahead of target.
Last year, British Waterways earned just short of £100m in trading income, the highest it has ever earned and making up over half of its total income of £190m - its fourth best year ever in terms of overall revenue. The rest of its income comes from Government grant and third party contributions. British Waterways agrees that in the long term, it needs to become more self-sufficient, so that it can reduce its reliance on money from central Government. In light of this, the restructuring of British Waterways was already in progress before the budget realignments were announced.
It is for the Board of British Waterways to decide how best to apportion its reduced budget in relation to its activities and I very much welcome the way it is taking positive action to actively manage its own funding situation and put itself on a firm footing to ensure the sustainability of its canals for the future.
Over the course of last summer and autumn, Ministers reviewed Defra’s budgets. The Chief Executives and Chairman of British Waterways, along with others in the Defra family of sponsored bodies, were invited to contribute to this process.
British Waterways’ grant for 2007/08 remains at just over £55m. It has also received £2.048m for the repayment of the principal on a National Loans Fund loan, bringing its total budget for 2007/08 to £57.545m. In arriving at this figure, Ministers have sought to provide an affordable level of cover, avoiding the need to make a cash cut to funding, given that other budgets within core Defra have been cut.
I am pleased that we have been able to safeguard this level of funding, given spending constraints. British Waterways needs greater certainty of funding if it is to be able to plan sensibly and run its business. This is why we notified it of its funding for 2007/08 before Christmas in order to help it manage the consequences and any risks associated with this level of funding. It is now the Government’s intention to provide British Waterways with greater security of funding, through a three-year funding agreement, from 2008/09.