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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the cost to the public purse of reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region which have been closed by the Environment Agency since 2006; and if she will make a statement.

No navigations on Anglian Waterways have been closed permanently since 2006. For health and safety reasons, and to protect the general public and those who use the waterways, the Environment Agency has temporarily closed some assets such as locks and landing stages, that have made some waterways difficult to access for some craft.

The Environment Agency has not held any recent discussions with local authorities in the Anglian region about the re-opening of closed navigable waterways in that region. The Environment Agency will consider the restoration and re-opening of closed navigable waterways depending on the amount of future funding available and the importance, such as the level of use, of the waterway to be re-opened.

The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Environment Agency on reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region.