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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle the issue of abandoned boats in UK rivers.

Responsibility for operational matters on regulated rivers rests with the navigation authorities that own them and includes dealing with abandoned boats. The Government does not have a role in that. Navigation authorities have statutory powers to remove such boats when they deem it necessary and appropriate, but only statutory duties to do so where they present an environmental or navigation risk. Where there is no navigation authority for a river, responsibility for removing boats falls to riparian landowners and local authorities.