The Future Funding of Waterways - Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals in Parliament again

CUCT secretary Julie Arnold was contacted by Staffordshire Moorlands MP Charlotte Atkins on the morning of Tuesday 5th December to say another Parliamentary Adjournment Debate entitled "The Future Funding of Canals" had been secured for the following Tuesday, and could the local organisations brief her on their latest concerns. Julie immediately relayed this information to Stoke on Trent Boat Club and The Beatrice Charity, and it was discussed at that evening's committee meeting of IWA Stoke branch and the following Thursday's CUCT meeting - which was interrupted by the need to call out BW to the flooding and damage that was occurring at Froghall basin.

Over the following weekend Julie complied briefing notes for the Trust's local MP based on the IWA and CUCT's comments - and the impact of the flooding.

A full report of the debate, led by fellow Staffordshire MP Michael Fabricant, appears in Hansard for 11 December 2007; the following link is to the page where Charlotte Atkins' speech starts:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm071211/halltext/71211h0002.htm

Charlotte Atkins MP e-mailed to thank the Trust and the IWA branch for our support: "Just to say thanks very much for your help with my speech. Time constraints meant I had to do a slash and burn job on the speech during the debate but I hope I made the main points you wanted. The Minister was good humoured and fairly positive – what a change from Barry! He also suggested BW would get a flat settlement which I think the IWA will cautiously welcome. Thanks again for responding so quickly and well to my urgent requests for help. I know I can always rely on you! Charlotte"

Following is an extract from an IWA national Press Release summarising the debate and subsequent 'announcements' about the funding of waterways: "The debate was well supported and 12 other MPs participated....IWA was pleased to be invited to provide Mr Fabricant with a detailed briefing on the current situation on the state of the waterways, funding issues and IWA’s concerns. IWA branches [and corporate members such as CUCT!] briefed other MPs, and a range of contributing arguments was put to the minister during the course of the ninety-minute debate. The quality of debate and pertinence of points raised indicated that MPs had been exceptionally well-briefed, over the past year as well as for this specific debate, and clearly understood the issues at hand.

The debate was answered by Jonathan Shaw MP, the Waterways Minister at the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs....In answer to the many comments directed at the Department’s funding allocations for British Waterways and the Environment Agency, the minister reported that he was actively engaging with delivery partners in the process of setting budgets. The minister also reported that despite allocations not due to be announced until the end of February 2008, he expected the budget for British Waterways would now be broadly around flat cash for a three-year period.

The minister commented on the proposed licence fee increases and indicated sympathy for vulnerable boat owners, but argued that boat owners only contributed 10% of the total cost of the waterways and the rest was already borne by the taxpayer. This was despite IWA arguments in support of the fact that boaters only constitute 3% of users and provide the intrinsic interest in the waterways scene; including provision of waterside property developments with a significant premium, and creating a major tourist attraction for the UK.

At a meeting later in the day with IWA national chairman John Fletcher, and representatives from other waterway organisations, the minister re-confirmed the position that around flat cash funding for British Waterways looked likely. The minister also gave an update on the British Waterways status review and confirmed his support for arrangements that would enable British Waterways to borrow commercially to assist the good management of its business. The minister’s announcements met with widespread approval from those who were present.

The minister also announced that he had set up a joint governmental inland waterways committee comprising senior representatives of the departments for Transport, Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Health, Communities and Local Government, Culture, Media and Sport, and the Treasury, together with representatives of the main navigation authorities and the Inland Waterways Advisory Council. This committee met for the first time on 17th December and is intended to enable a greater understanding of the intrinsic value of the waterways to the UK as a whole within Government and to enable other government departments to become more involved in understanding and subsequently partnering support for the waterways as a consequence.

Concluding the meeting, the minister indicated a willingness to meet waterways representatives on a regular basis in order to improve communication; an initiative that has been widely welcomed. In a note to IWA supporters, national chairman John Fletcher said “The rapid response of IWA members throughout the country to brief their MPs for the waterways debate has been rewarded with a constructive and well-informed debate in Parliament and a firm commitment from the minister on funding. The strength of the waterways lobby has proved its worth in ensuring better funding for navigation authorities for the next three years than would otherwise likely have been the case.”