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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department made an assessment of the potential long-term impact of climate change on the canal network before reducing the level of funding for the Canal and River Trust.

A comprehensive review of the current grant provision to the Canal and River Trust was conducted between 2021 and 2023. The review examined a number of forward-looking scenarios using data provided by the Trust that included consideration of potential climate change impacts.