Rivers at risk in funding cuts says MPs

They say they are "extremely concerned" about the scaling back in public finance for the maintenance of inland waterways.

Dismay is also expressed by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee at poor relations between the Government and British Waterways, stemming partly from disputes about funding, in a new report.

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The committee said British Waterways, which is responsible for 2,200 miles of rivers and canals, had already been placed under "considerable pressure" by a decline in Whitehall funding.

Some £5.6million of planned work to refurbish bridges, locks and aqueducts on the Grand Union Canal, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Ribble Link was postponed because of a £7million shortfall in British Waterways' expected budget for 2006-7.

Users of the network have complained that the impact is already apparent, with concerns about a growing number of emergency stoppages for boats, less dredging taking place on the Severn and a decline in communications by British Waterways.

British Waterways believes the downturn in funding could be disastrous if it is not rectified.

"We are spending £20-£25million on major works every year," it told the committee. "If for two years those have to be delayed, that cannot be said to be a disaster. What is a disaster is if those cuts are not reinstated and the grant continues thereafter."

The organisation expects a shortfall in funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of £35million by 2011, which would affect major repair work and dredging.

Restoration and regeneration work on the Droitwich Canal, Cotswold Canal and Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal would also be on the line.

Ministers insist that British Waterways will receive £30.1million more income between 2002 and 2012 because of higher-than- expected commercial earnings over the period and grants up to 2007.

The committee said: "We are extremely concerned at the implications of likely lower Defra grant levels in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 period, from 2008/9 to 2010/11, on British Waterways' ability to maintain the waterways network to an acceptable standard.

"British Waterways says a funding settlement in which its grant level reduced by 5 per cent in real terms would result in a £35million underspend on major works by the end of the three CSR years alone, and the network would then not be 'fully fit for purpose'."

The committee called for the National Audit Office to review the conflicting claims about the state of British Waterways' finances and urged better relations between it and Defra.

Waterways Minister Jonathan Shaw said the Government had provided £520million to British Waterways since 2000.

He added: "Our waterways are in a better state today than they have been since before the Second World War, and they are used and enjoyed by more people than at any other time in their history.

"We will now work with British Waterways closely in carefully considering the committee's recommendations."