Today (10th July 2023) the Government made a statement about the future funding of Canal & River Trust (CRT) from 2027 to 2037, following the review of the grant that has been carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) over the past two years. The funding will be reduced in stages from the current annual grant of £52.6 million to £31.5 million in 2036/37.
The NBTA believes that the waterways that we live on should be fully publicly funded and that in transferring British Waterways out of public ownership in 2012, the Tory Government of 2010-2015 was deliberately abdicating its responsibility for maintaining vital national infrastructure. The NBTA does not welcome today’s statement by the Secretary of State. We know that reduced funding will not stop CRT’s attempts to get rid of the itinerant liveaboard boater community.
The full statement by Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is online here https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-07-10/hcws924