Canal & River Trust financial year report

CANAL & River Trust tells it spent £208 million in its last financial year.

This included waterway maintenance and repairs, emergency works caused by the storms and following floods and storms together with upgrades to reservoirs.

In its annual Boater Report, the trust revealed it spent a total of £208.6m in 2023/24 out of income of £237.3m. That included £49m on maintenance and repair projects, £27m on reservoir upgrades and £9m on emergency works.

No increase

With no increase in government funding, the trust had to increase income from other areas, as a rise in boat fees taking effect this year and more chargeable moorings in the London area.

There was an increase in donations and utilities with water development helping to boost income, but expenditure had also risen.

Alongside statutory work and planned maintenance, The trust told it had to deal with waterway emergencies caused by climate change. Storms and flooding have caused damage running into the millions. The succession of storms wreaked havoc on the network. Thousands of trees were blown down, towpaths were washed away, banks and culverts collapsed and landslides occurred.

At last a CCTV system is in use to watch bridges and take images when collisions occur, as often advised by narrowboatworld, with the resulting images used to pursue drivers and claim any repairs via their insurance.

Yet only a small percentage of spend on actual work on the waterways—£49m against total spend of £208.6m.