From the Region Chair - Grant Review Canal and River Trust (CRT) Grant Review Defra and CRT have jointly announced the terms of reference for a review of the grant terms from Defra which apply up to June 2027. Some key points in the present grant agreement are: an annual core grant of £39m., a conditional grant of £10m., and income from the Investment Assets Portfolio (current assets valued at £850m). The conditional grant is likely to be the most vulnerable part of the agreement as it is based on three key performance indicators: safety of the waterways; towpath condition (for public access); flood management . The full document may be viewed and downloaded at: https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/canal-river-trustgrant-review/terms-of-reference. Assuming that you are not finding it difficult to sleep right now (!) I have extracted several key paragraphs from the document, (actually it is a very clear, concise and well written document!). The first part is a reminder of the key objectives of moving British Waterways into the present CRT Charitable Trust status: Page 6 Aegre 160 - July 2021
i) To reduce dependence on government grant and to foster increasing self-sufficiency, by providing access to new charitable income streams and stimulating new efficiencies. Over time, to increase overall funding available for the waterways. A prerequisite for this is to support the viability of the Trust – especially in its early days - and so minimise the risk that government has to intervene to take responsibility for the waterways from the Trust ii) To move the long-term cost of maintaining the inland waterways and associated heritage infrastructure (estimated at around £4 billion in nominal net present value terms) from the public sector to civil society iii) To support localism and give waterways’ users and communities greater involvement in the management and long-term sustainability of the waterways iv) To safeguard the canals and associated heritage infrastructure through the Trust Settlement, in perpetuity, for the benefit of the nation, free pedestrian access to the towpaths
