Extracts from RBOA newsletter :
The waterways community now faces more budgetary cuts of an unknown nature, in addition to the £5 million known budget deficit, a 33% or more licence increase, a trebling of fuel costs, 200 plus waterway job cuts, and indeterminate maintenance cuts. British Waterways has additionally been hard hit by this summer's flooding and the breach in the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal - a total additional cost of over £10 million. Other navigation authorities have also suffered considerable losses.
We would ask you to spare some time to write to your MP now and inform them of the situation. Important funding decisions are being made by the Treasury and DEFRA in the next four weeks. To delay raising concerns over the cuts and the latest funding proposals could allow the proposals to become consolidated before MPs have a chance to lobby ministers. You can find the name of your local MP by going to: www.writetothem.com
BW's grants in England come from Defra, as do those for the Environment Agency. For BW the agreed grant this year was £62.5m with the remaining income earned in the form of specific project funding from local authorities, lottery funders etc. In March 2006, Defra advised BW that the grant was to be cut by 5% (approximately £3.1m) for 2006/07 and BW was able to adjust its business plans to absorb this reduction. Defra's financial position then worsened. The department must pay a large fine to the EU for its failure to make prompt payments to farmers via the Rural Payments Agency. They are also incurring substantial overspends to do with putting the service to farmers right and on some other projects. No further funding is available from Treasury so Defra has decided to cut further the budgets of its other agencies.
In July, BW was told that its grant for 2006/07 would be cut by a further 7.5% (£4.5m) with the possibility of a further cut of 2.5% (£1.5m) in the autumn. Defra is now briefing BW with regard to the Comprehensive Spending Review by which departmental spending for the years 2008/09 to 2010/11 will be decided. This required expenditure would decrease still further from the level to which it has now been cut in 2006/07 with the consequence that our waterways are likely to lose planned funding of £60m in the five years from 2006/07 to 2010/11.
BW has to be prepared to make savings of £10-12m p.a. during this period. No options have been ruled out yet and major savings being considered are:
• delay or abandonment of restoration programmes
• closure of stretches of waterway
• job losses
• increases in boat licence fees