Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of grant funding on the future of Shropshire’s canal network.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s specific grant funding for the Canal and River Trust is primarily to support the maintenance and safe operation of the waterways network infrastructure. Ministers do not have a role in operational matters such as restoration projects or maintenance, including allocation of funding for individual waterways. Restoration projects do receive funding from various sources. For example, the Montgomery Canal restoration project received £16 million in October 2021 from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, through a successful Powys County Council bid.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to restore and protect the Montgomery canal.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s specific grant funding for the Canal and River Trust is primarily to support the maintenance and safe operation of the waterways network infrastructure. Ministers do not have a role in operational matters such as restoration projects or maintenance, including allocation of funding for individual waterways. Restoration projects do receive funding from various sources. For example, the Montgomery Canal restoration project received £16 million in October 2021 from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, through a successful Powys County Council bid.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential environmental impact of plans to start fluoridation from the Williamsgate treatment works on waterways in West Cumbria.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the success of her Department’s policy on voluntary access arrangements on inland waterways as a means to increase access on unregulated waters; and how many kilometres of new access has been secured for recreation in this Parliament.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Given the wide range of local circumstances, the Government does not have a role in making voluntary access agreement arrangements, nor do we monitor or hold information on them, since they are tailored to local situations enabling the needs of different users to be balanced both with each other and with the property rights of landowners.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help encourage the use of canals and rivers; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our inland waterways are an important national heritage asset. Benefits of inland waterways include biodiversity, pleasant routes for active and sustainable travel, physical and mental health, water stewardship, recreational benefits, water-borne freight and renewable energy. The waterways networks host utilities including broadband cabling, as well as playing a key role in system-wide flood risk management, land drainage and water supply.
We published our Environmental Improvement Plan in January 2023 and will work across government to deliver against its commitments, including to “continue to work with navigation authorities as appropriate, recognising the value of access to blue space, particularly within inner city environments. For example, announcing future funding for the Canal and River Trust to support local access improvements and awareness.”
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the commitment in the Environmental Improvement Plan that everyone should live within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space, what assessment she has made of the implications for that policy of the proportion of (a) waterways and (b) inland blue space in England that has a statutory right of public access.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We know that there are significant health and wellbeing benefits to spending time in nature. That is why we announced in our Environmental Improvement Plan in January our intention to work across Government to ensure that everyone lives within a 15 minute walk of a blue or green space. We also committed to work in parallel to reduce barriers to access.
Achieving delivery of these cross government commitments, to bring nature closer to people and reduce barriers to accessing it, is a long term goal. We are currently focused on developing the right modelling tools and indicators to allow us to accurately measure the baseline, identify where to target efforts and to track future progress, engaging closely with stakeholders as we do so. At the same time we continue to deliver existing work across Government in this area, such as the Access for All programme, the Green Infrastructure Framework, the Levelling Up Parks Fund and the Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Strategy.
Access on waterways, and other inland blue spaces such as lakes, where there is no established public right of navigation should be arranged with the relevant landowners through local voluntary access agreements, to ensure the interests of all parties concerned are taken into account.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
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 potential merits of installing more throw lines near waterways.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency encourages safe and responsible recreation on inland and coastal water and is responsible for safety on waterside assets it owns, operates or occupies (such as locks, weirs and bridges). The Environment Agency is required to assess and manage the risks to the public at these assets under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It undertakes a comprehensive programme of public safety risk assessments of those assets and regularly inspects them to ensure that the provided risk control measures are well maintained. It has published advice on how to stay safe while visiting waterways: www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-safe-around-water(opens in a new tab) and is also a member of the National Water Safety Forum. In most cases joined-up education and messaging on water safety is necessary.
The process of regular public safety risk assessments identifies hazards associated with each asset, along with safety control measures to reduce the likelihood of anyone coming to harm. Typical control measures include barriers, signage, booms and rescue equipment, such as throwlines. The provision and decision-making process of throwlines versus other rescue equipment is also assessed in line with the location, effective deployment and recovery location. The Environment Agency’s representative on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Water Safety group is contributing to the development of a decision tree for Public Rescue Equipment which will continually improve the process. A useful guide can be found here: https://www.rospa.com/leisure-water-safety/water/research/inland.
We would anticipate that any professional undertaking with riparian responsibilities would undertake a similar risk assessment programme. The Environment Agency does not have a responsibility for setting any water safety policy, except in as much as it applies to its management of its own assets.
Employers whose work activity takes place close to open water are required under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to take steps to prevent employees and other people from coming to harm due to their work activities. For example, a perimeter wall or fence around an irrigation reservoir or slurry pit will help to control risks. Where open access to water is encouraged for leisure purposes controls might, depending on the circumstances, include the provision of throwlines or other rescue devices, as part of a range of measures. Much of the open water throughout Great Britain while often used for recreational purposes, is not associated with ongoing work activity, meaning the Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974 does not apply.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
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 conserve biodiversity in canals.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We recognise that the inland waterways across England and Wales are an important national asset forming an important part of our natural environment by providing green and blue corridors along which biodiversity can flourish.
We are committed to recovering nature, including restoring our freshwater habitats, which is why we have now set four legally binding targets for biodiversity. By 2030 we have committed to halt the decline in species abundance and by 2042 we aim to reverse species decline; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats. Action towards these targets will drive essential improvements to our freshwater habitats.
Defra is committed to improve at least 75% of our waters to as ‘close to their natural state’ as soon as is practicable, set out in the EIP. In April we published our Integrated Plan for Delivering Clean and Plentiful Water. The actions in the plan aim to restore all types surface waters, for example, river, lakes and canals.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of river transport on pollution levels in urban settings; and what comparative assessment he has made of recent trends in (a) road and (b) river transport usage.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Whilst operational usage of rivers and canals is a matter for the relevant navigation authorities, rather than the Department for Transport, as part of the development of the Future of Freight Plan, published in 2022, Government engaged with the inland waterways sector to better understand domestic freight flows but has made no specific assessment of individual waterways.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential ways rivers may be further utilised as urban transport routes (a) nationally and (b) on the River Ouse, Yorkshire.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Whilst operational usage of rivers and canals is a matter for the relevant navigation authorities, rather than the Department for Transport, as part of the development of the Future of Freight Plan, published in 2022, Government engaged with the inland waterways sector to better understand domestic freight flows but has made no specific assessment of individual waterways.