Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of grant funding on the future of Shropshire’s canal network.

The Government’s specific grant funding for the Canal and River Trust is primarily to support the maintenance and safe operation of the waterways network infrastructure. Ministers do not have a role in operational matters such as restoration projects or maintenance, including allocation of funding for individual waterways. Restoration projects do receive funding from various sources. For example, the Montgomery Canal restoration project received £16 million in October 2021 from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, through a successful Powys County Council bid.