Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of river transport on pollution levels in urban settings; and what comparative assessment he has made of recent trends in (a) road and (b) river transport usage.

Whilst operational usage of rivers and canals is a matter for the relevant navigation authorities, rather than the Department for Transport, as part of the development of the Future of Freight Plan, published in 2022, Government engaged with the inland waterways sector to better understand domestic freight flows but has made no specific assessment of individual waterways.