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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2020 to Question 59339, whether there is not a statute or other legal restriction which inhibits the common law rights to navigate freely the inland rivers of England and Wales.

It is not the Government’s role to offer advice on such legal matters, and only the courts can determine whether a public right of navigation exists on a particular stretch of river.

My answer of 23 June 2020, to which the Hon. Member refers, sets out the current position with regards to navigation of inland rivers for recreational purposes where there is no navigation authority.