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

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of funding they have provided to the Canal and Rivers Trust is intended to be used to keep urban waterways and towpaths clean.

The current grant agreement between Defra and the Canal and River Trust provides for the grant to be used in pursuit of the charitable objects of the Trust, including a range of permitted activities set out in the agreement. The activities include litter management. The agreement, however, does not stipulate what proportion of the grant should be spent on any of the activities, which is for the Trust to decide on the basis of need at any given time.