On 8th June 2021, the NBTA gave a presentation to the All Party Parliamentary Waterways Group (APPWG) on the subject of ‘Living on the Water’. Canal & River Trust (CRT) and the Residential Boat Owners Association were also invited to give presentations. Each organisation was requested to state their three ‘key asks’ of Government. The MPs and Peers present at the meeting were Michael Fabricant MP (Chair), Lord Bradshaw, Lord German, Tony Lloyd MP, Gagan Mohindra MP, and Huw Davies on behalf of Simon Baynes MP.
Other people attending included representatives of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), which acts as the secretary to the group; representatives of navigation authorities; officials from DEFRA; boater associations including NBTA London; boat clubs; moorings co-operatives and canal restoration charities. The main outcome is that the Chair Michael Fabricant MP agreed to write to DEFRA requesting that a new cross-departmental working group is set up, which includes the boater associations who support liveaboards, with a remit to address the issues raised in the presentations and discussion. We will publish the minutes when these are publicly available. All Party Parliamentary Groups have no law making power, but exist to advance specific issues and causes within Parliament.
Here are the slides from the presentation given by the NBTA.
