The future of British Waterways - Male, white

Male, white and over 55

Some other problems are obvious to waterway insiders. It happens that the vast majority of boaters and anglers are male, white and over the age of 55. A governing body elected from this membership is unlikely to be diverse either in terms of gender or ethnicity. The practical implications of having decisions about the future of a great national asset reached by such a narrow section of society are obvious and the reputational risks to the new third sector body are likely to be considerable.

In the light of these concerns IWAC has concluded that the constitution of the governing council should include not only elected representatives of the membership but a substantial number of nominated representatives from widely respected relevant organisations, such as The National Trust and English Heritage, as well as user organisations such as the Ramblers Association and RSPB. The aim should be to achieve a balanced governing body, with boaters and anglers fairly represented but with other groups that have a legitimate interest in the well being of the waterways also being appropriately represented. This should include representatives of local authorities.

Government is very important

The role of the UK Government is very important. If our advice is accepted, UK Government will be providing financial support to the new waterways body at least for a transitional period. The exact nature of the financial arrangements have not yet been decided but, if primary legislation is to be avoided, it would seem necessary for the ownership of the assets to remain in the public sector with a contract being signed to give the new third sector body a long lease to run the waterways.

The content of this contract would be of great importance. Not only would it need to give the new third sector body the necessary level of financial security, but it would also need to set out principles to guide the work of the governing council and the trustees.

UK Government has the responsibility to ensure that the waterways are developed in the wider public interest. On this basis the UK Government will wish to ensure that the aims and objectives of the third sector body include commitments to take account of the needs of local communities, to adopt policies that encourage access to the waterways particularly amongst those groups who rarely use the waterways at present, and to operate efficiently.

Increased openness by BW important

The aims of balanced representation and wide involvement should be reinforced with imaginative action at local and regional level. BW is considering the creation of local advisory groups and, providing the participants are drawn from across the community, the advisory groups should contribute to a much stronger feeling of local involvement. The promised policy of increased openness by BW management at all levels will also be important.

A committed policy to recruit more volunteers to undertake a wide range of activities would increase local engagement. An IWAC Report planned for publication in the autumn of 2010 will draw lessons from organisations with a first class record of working with volunteers and suggest ways to recruit and involve more volunteers to work on the inland waterways.

Waterways Trust

The changes in BW's culture and status will inevitably raise questions about the future role of the Waterways Trust. The Trust was set up to undertake many of the tasks that are planned to be part of the work of the new third sector body and one suggestion is the Waterways Trust should pass its functions to the new organisation at an early stage. However IWAC has seen no evidence that the implications of such a move have been fully considered. Early attention needs to be given to this relationship and a solution should be found that enables the new third sector body to benefit from the knowledge and experience gained by the Waterways Trust.

Scope of the third sector organisation

When BW first launched its statement 'Twenty/Twenty Vision' in April 2009 and opened the debate on the possibility of a move into the third sector, the proposals related solely to BW and no other organisation was involved. However in the months that followed, Defra began to develop a proposal that the navigation responsibilities of the Environment Agency be transferred to BW and become part of the new third sector body at the outset. The Minister confirmed that this transfer was under consideration on 24 June 2010 in his reply to a parliamentary question:

"We will be looking in detail at options for a third sector model that will be appropriate for British Waterways, including the possible inclusion of Environment Agency navigations."