Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the Environment Agency's capacity to maintain those navigable waterways for which it is responsible.

As a navigation authority, the Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for over 621 miles of inland waterways. It has been reviewing the future costs required to run and maintain these waterways and, along with the Canal and River Trust (C&RT), has been working to develop proposals for a possible transfer of its navigation responsibilities and assets to the C&RT.

I met the Chairman and Chief Executive of the C&RT recently for initial discussions on proposals for a transfer. We will now look to hold further discussions with both the EA and the C&RT on possible next steps.