Checking unlicenced boats
Having come back from holiday, I've been shown Paul Ponting's post of 16th August regarding unlicenced boats, write Canal & River Trust Enforcement Operations Manager, Paul Griffin.
Rather than debate online with him how many boats were unlicenced on that part of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, I shall endeavour to contact him and invite him to spend some time with one of our Enforcement Officers in order that he can see how we record boat details, check licences and how we use the information.
Enforcement Officers
When we are fully staffed we have 22 Enforcement Officers covering the whole system. They are supported on the ground by a team of Data Checkers who collect the boat sightings using a hand held device which enables them to check electronically if a boat is licenced. Remember that a boat may be licenced even if it isn't showing an up-to-date disc.
As I said in my post of 9th August, if any of your readers believe a boat is unlicenced, then please tell us by going to: http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/licensing/licence-it-or-lose-it/online-boat-checker
and log the sighting in order that our enforcement team can take action. That's a better way than grumbling in the pub or hoping we may read comment online.
Work together
After all, we and you all want to work together to minimise the number of boat owners who don't pay and lose their boat. In my last post I said that the owners of 14 boats on that part of the Leeds & Liverpool were having enforcement action taken against them. I can report that three boats have been seized; two boats have re-licenced and nine are progressing in the enforcement process.
As previously stated, last year we seized 64 boats and so far this financial year we have seized 18 boats. So, for those people, the 'licence it or lose it' concept has applied.
Derwent Mouth Lock
Alan Clarke's post of 30th August mentions a boat close to Derwent Mouth Lock which he believes is unlicenced. Our local Enforcement Officer Stephen Cropper is aware of this boat, though we're not able to put in the public domain the enforcement status of an individual boat for personal privacy reasons.
Lastly, I can clear up the 'mystery' of the national licence evasion statistics over the last few years. They are based on the boat count we carry out each year. So the November 2007 count which showed 10.4% was the one mentioned in the 2007-8 British Waterways Annual Report. The November 2006 count showed 7.1% and was mentioned in the 2006-7 British Waterways Annual Report. The latest figure is 3.4%. This means over 96% of boats were licenced.
Please help us to ensure all boat owners pay by checking via the web link above, any boat you think may be unlicenced.