Viscount Trenchard
Main Page: Viscount Trenchard (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Viscount Trenchard (Con)
My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Evans of Rainow on his steadfast support of this important issue and for obtaining this debate today. I first became aware of the growing concern about the amount of litter on canal tow-paths when my noble friend tabled his amendment to the Private Member’s Bill from the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, earlier this year. I agreed with him then, and I share his view that the removal of the litter bins by the Canal & River Trust is hugely regrettable.
We have over 2,000 miles of navigable canals in England and Wales, many of which have tow-paths that allow people to enjoy our beautiful countryside and admire our fascinating canal infrastructure heritage. In urban areas, the tow-path is an even more vital open space as an area where people can get a breath of fresh air in heavily built-up areas. The level of concern among the campaigners who are fighting for bins to be reinstated on canal tow-paths is testament to how much people value their local canal tow-paths.
My noble friend explained the problem clearly in his speech. It really is appalling that the Canal & River Trust is not listening to the concerned campaigners across the country who want the bins put back. I simply cannot understand why the trust is refusing to do the right thing and reverse its decision on this. The fact that campaigners have managed to get the media’s attention, as they have over the past year, shows that this a genuine problem.
My noble friend has spoken about our canals being an eyesore and that piles of litter will discourage people from using our tow-paths. I will focus on the impact that litter on canal tow-paths has on the environment and wildlife. Beside every tow-path is a canal or river, and they are home to a whole host of wildlife, including coots, moorhens, ducks, cormorants and others. All these are negatively affected by litter. When people leave their food waste and plastic rubbish on the tow-path, the wildlife on our canals is bound to be at risk. Whether it is from getting entangled in plastic packaging or consuming dangerous items, litter is a threat to wildlife. The excellent House of Lords Library briefing for this debate, citing the Canal & River Trust itself, confirmed that,
“Plastic and other waste can be ingested by or entangle wildlife and contribute to habitat degradation. Accumulated litter can also reduce water quality and impact bank and reedbed conditions”.
What I cannot understand is, if the Canal & River Trust is aware of the harm that litter and plastic waste does, why has it removed the bins that enable canal users to dispose of their litter responsibly? It makes no sense. Will the Minister please take that point to the Canal & River Trust at the next meeting between Defra and the trust?
In the trust’s annual report for the year ending 31 March 2025 its chair, David Orr, highlighted the contribution of the past chief executive, who stepped down in July. He said:
“Richard’s contribution to the Canal & River Trust becoming an established and admired national charity has been phenomenal”.
In reality, it seems to me that the new chief executive, Campbell Robb, has quite a task ahead of him to restore the trust’s reputation, so damaged is it by its obstinate refusal to reverse its misguided decision to scrap the bins.
The annual report acknowledges that:
“As the nation’s largest canal charity, we benefited from just under three-quarters of a million volunteer hours, with volunteers playing an essential role in repairing and maintaining canals and helping us across nearly all aspects of its work”.
The report proudly boasts:
“In December 2024 we submitted our first Climate Adaptation Report, putting us amongst the major infrastructure providers reporting to government about managing climate risk”.
It also informs the reader:
“We commissioned the Energy Saving Trust to help develop a plan to transition our 400 work vehicles to electric power. The first 25 electrically powered vehicles will be purchased in 2025/26 when we’ll also start installing charging points”.
Does the Minister know how much the trust’s electric vehicles transition plan is going to cost? What is the average age of the vehicles being replaced?
Surely, if the trust is so rich that it can afford to purchase 25 new electric vehicles just to show how good it is at managing climate risk, it must have enough money to continue to provide bins on tow-paths—otherwise it seems to me that its management has a warped sense of priorities. Besides, the trust’s accounts reveal that it derives 23% of its revenues—that is, £52.6 million—from its Defra grant, and a further quarter from its boat licensing fees, which increased by 7.3% to £55 million in the year just ended.
I think I speak for all noble Lords in this debate in saying that we want to see clean canals and clean tow-paths on their banks, with healthy wildlife. That should be a shared ambition. Can the Minister say what consideration the Government have given to this issue? Have they considered taking a more direct approach to the trust to resolve it? Now that the trust has a new chief executive, the Government have a fresh opportunity to put pressure on it to crack down on litter, as its supporters and the wider public all expect it must do. We cannot allow this to go on year after year, with litter piling up on our tow-paths, especially in the summer months. Can the Minister please commit to taking some proper action, so that we do not have to come back again next year to discuss the same problem?