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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of inland waters that have a statutory right of access for recreational users.

Current estimates are that around 4%, or 1,400 miles, of rivers in England and Wales have a public right of navigation. There are around 3,500 miles of canal and river navigations that have a public right of access through the licensing regimes operated by the navigation authorities that own them.