THE report published this week by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee castigates British Waterways on squandering £600,000 on consultants, whilst at the same time it is complaining about its lack of money.

The British Waterways Status Options review stated:

'We are unconvinced by the need for British Waterways to spend up to £600,000 on a report by consultants on its future structure when it is by its own admission short of money.

'We find it hard to believe that analytical capability does not exist within British Waterways, Defra or other public sector organisations that could have conducted this study at lower cost to public funds.

'British Waterways should now explain why it was necessary to spend money of this order at a time when it was facing significant pressure on its finances sufficient for it to withdraw its support for the Cotswold Canals project."

The terms of reference were to examine how British Waterways was working towards its ambition of creating 'an expanded, vibrant, largely self-sufficient waterway network'.

Other funding

There is the possibility that British Waterways could receive other public funding in addition to that by Defra, the report stating:

'Last year we concluded that there is a strong case for other Government departments—such as Culture, Media and Sport, Transport and Communities and Local Government—to make a direct contribution to British Waterways’ funding, to reflect the contribution it makes to the agendas of those departments. We recommend that Government prepare proposals to ensure this is achieved, as part of the next CSR review.

'The Government responded positively, with Defra to set up an Interdepartmental Working Group to formalise and strengthen its contact with other Departments and make sure that the potential benefits of waterways are understood. Other Government Departments have the flexibility to fund the inland waterways sector direct where it can help deliver specific policy requirements, for example through grants for regeneration and freight projects where funds are provided to reflect the contribution of the inland waterways'.

Privatisation?

A review is currently taking place of British Waterways' status as a public corporation to identify whether a different institutional structure for British Waterways could more effectively secure a sustainable long-term future for its inland waterways as valued national assets in each of the nations in which it operates.

Options include hiving off operational and commercial activities to an entity positioned outside the public sector, to give British Waterways greater commercial and financial freedom, whilst ensuring security of the core waterway assets in public ownership. 04/07

Council gets lottery cash for part of the Cotswold Canals restoration

THE determination of members of Stroud District Council has paid off, for the Heritage Lottery Fund has announced an award of £12 millions for the Cotswold Canals restoration around Stroud, 'subject to certain conditions'.

At the Stroud District Council meeting, Councillor Nigel Studdert-Kennedy, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Tourism for Stroud District Council, made the following announcement:

"Thanks to the efforts and hard work of a good many people, many well known in the community and beyond, the project to restore the Cotswold Canals has received a major boost. The Heritage Lottery Fund today announced its confirmation, subject to certain conditions, of the award of £11.924 million, which was first awarded to the project in 2006. This is fantastic news for the Stroud District and for the negotiating team."

The business plan for restoring the canal around Stroud, between Stonehouse and Brimscombe had been accepted, and the council was awaiting the precise conditions attached to the award, and expected that an official letter containing these will be received within a couple of weeks.

It is realised that the council needs to have a full understanding of the imposed conditions together with answers to questions already posed before calling a further full meeting.

The effort by Stroud District Council was made after British Waterways pulled out of Cotswold Canals Partnership, leaving the whole restoration in the lurch. British Waterways was to have injected £6 millions into the project, but stated the money would be better spent on repairs to the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.

The award of course only relates to a section of the whole restoration, within the council's jurisdiction, but sees it as 'an investment into the district, with the potential to ultimately bring economic, environmental, heritage, wildlife and leisure benefits to the district as a whole'. 30/06