EA Waterways will remain under EA management

boatone

boatone

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www.tmba.org.uk
Email just received from EA:

Over the past few years we’ve had fruitful and positive discussions with the Canal & River Trust and Government about whether, and if so under what terms, the Environment Agency’s navigation responsibilities might be transferred to the Trust.

CRT recently submitted their proposed terms for taking over our navigation responsibilities to Government. Ministers have considered the proposals and decided not to proceed with any transfer at the present time; however, they wish to keep the option open and return to it when they feel the time is right.

We in the Environment Agency will continue to concentrate on ensuring we run our navigations as efficiently as possible, including looking at new ways to raise revenue and engaging with our boating customers over our charges review. We and CRT will continue to cooperate actively in the running of our respective navigations to ensure the best possible experience for all river and canal users.
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Thanks for posting this B1 - it served to remind me that I need to renew my TMBA subscription, which I've just done - much better value than a certain other Thames based boating association.

So I guess it means the government looked at how much CRT said it will really cost to maintain the Thames and decided they'd rather not pay and just keep underfunding the EA instead.
 
DogsBody said:
Thanks for posting this B1 - it served to remind me that I need to renew my TMBA subscription, which I've just done - much better value than a certain other Thames based boating association.

So I guess it means the government looked at how much CRT said it will really cost to maintain the Thames and decided they'd rather not pay and just keep underfunding the EA instead.
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Another thanks for posting - B1, and to DogsBody, thanks for renewing your subscription! TMBA needs more members, indeed it would be great if more boaters actually used their boats and made the Thames vibrant again.

CaRT have enough trouble on their hands maintaining their own waters to make a success of the River as well.
It would be interesting to have the details of their offer released and - presumably their proposals for management of the Thames. They are busy selling off their assets to raise funds and the fear is (amongst others) the same could happen to the Thames....
 
This has just surfaced on the MSBA website .
http://msba.org.uk/?p=4223#comment-196516

Have commented,on the scuttlebutt doing the rounds,that CaRT is purely taking over to siphon off funds from the "Jewel in the Crown" Thames and squander it on lesser navigations.
Would appear now, the Medway is also of the same opinion.
Suspect the EA rejected nothing, CaRT said we want some dough and DEFRA had a heart attack. :)
 
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The news release to boating organisations that B1 posted was immediately leaked on Facebook I was thankful as to me I saw the C&RT being bad news for us. It will be interesting to see what the IWA have to say after spending so much effort courting the politicians in the House and getting those not really switched on to give pledges of support for a C&RT takeover. The worrying thing is that little detail of the takeover proposal is known and unlikely to ever come out. I see now that the C&RT are saying that they are attempting to raise £150M in bonds. It would be interesting to know if this were included in their bid for the E.A. navigation on the Thames and other waterways I suppose the loss of the anticipated Government dowry will not help the reported Trust's pension fund deficit.
 
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534l4rk said:
The news release to boating organisations that B1 posted was immediately leaked on Facebook I was thankful as to me I saw the C&RT being bad news for us. It will be interesting to see what the IWA have to say after spending so much effort courting the politicians in the House and getting those not really switched on to give pledges of support for a C&RT takeover. The worrying thing is that little detail of the takeover proposal is known and unlikely to ever come out. I see now that the C&RT are saying that they are attempting to raise £150M in bonds. It would be interesting to know if this were included in their bid for the E.A. navigation on the Thames and other waterways I suppose the loss of the anticipated Government dowry will not help the reported Trust's pension fund deficit.
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The rumour doing the rounds down here on the Medway, was that if CaRT took over, registration fees would sky rocket.
There was of course absolutely nothing factual to back this story up.
As for pensions the EA is directly funded from the public purse.
If they have no deficit its because the man or woman in the street who will never ever enjoy the delights of boating are funding our hobby .
Wonder what their views would be on the subject. :)
 
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oldgit said:
The rumour doing the rounds down here on the Medway, was that if CaRT took over, registration fees would sky rocket.
There was of course absolutely nothing factual to back this story up.
As for pensions the EA is directly funded from the public purse.
If they have no deficit its because the man or woman in the street who will never ever enjoy the delights of boating are funding our hobby .
Wonder what their views would be on the subject. :)
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The EA doesn't operate like a commercial enterprise or a charity, it's a public body that just spends what it gets. The grant in aid from central government does go towards the operation of the river including navigation and water level management for abstraction plus wildlife. You could argue that boating is partly subsidised by the taxpayer and for that I thank myself and others.

The pension is the local government pension scheme, now a 48ths, career average salary contributary scheme, protected in law and index-linked. Prior to that it was a 60ths final salary scheme, handsome but not gold-plated.
 
Old Crusty said:
The EA doesn't operate like a commercial enterprise or a charity, it's a public body that just spends what it gets. The grant in aid from central government does go towards the operation of the river including navigation and water level management for abstraction plus wildlife. You could argue that boating is partly subsidised by the taxpayer and for that I thank myself and others.

The pension is the local government pension scheme, now a 48ths, career average salary contributary scheme, protected in law and index-linked. Prior to that it was a 60ths final salary scheme, handsome but not gold-plated.
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have several chums in receipt of the LGPS and as you say it aint gold plated, more pot metal with a thin coat of gilt....., however the private pension hordes would dearly love that extra fiver on its way due to inflation and another fiver from the State on its way :)

Never the less the Thames "Hobby Navy" is being kept afloat by public subsidy as the captive boaters revenue is simply not enough to finance the services provided.

Bringing the boat round in August....might need to travel after dark.... :)
 
oldgit said:
Never the less the Thames "Hobby Navy" is being kept afloat by public subsidy as the captive boaters revenue is simply not enough to finance the services provided.
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Its taken a long time but I do hope this message is starting to get through. I have been banging on about the funding dilemma for over 6 years now and it ain't going away! Public purse money is just that - a contribution from the tax payer and that includes pretty much all of us.
Its a tad difficult to promote the idea that subsidies for boaters have a higher priority than health, welfare and education spending - just to name a few.

Imperfect world, imperfect systems but how about directing our angst towards those that should pay but don't ? My guess is that licence evasion lost the EA more income in 2017 than is likely to derive from the 5.7% increase in registration charges for 2018 and they don't have enough staff to police the problem.

TMBA members are aware of my efforts to assist in identifying unregistered craft but whats needed is a seed change in attitudes towards community responsibility and antisocial behaviour.
 
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My comment about the reported C&RT pension fund deficit was rather tongue in cheek. My real concern was that since they have not done a great job on their own waterways it appeared to me that they only wanted the E.A. aspects for the anticipated dowry. There have been numerous reports about the C&RT management changes and poor performance on the web over the last 6 months There are also numerous reports about their decreasing interest in looking after boaters. These are the factors that concerned me.
 
534l4rk said:
My comment about the reported C&RT pension fund deficit was rather tongue in cheek. My real concern was that since they have not done a great job on their own waterways it appeared to me that they only wanted the E.A. aspects for the anticipated dowry. There have been numerous reports about the C&RT management changes and poor performance on the web over the last 6 months There are also numerous reports about their decreasing interest in looking after boaters. These are the factors that concerned me.
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OK appreciate where your coming from.
Presume it is now common knowledge that at the end of last year, CRT invited around 80 staff to re-apply for their own jobs.
However there will only be around 60 vacancies, indicating that the the organisation is not immune to financial pressures.
The cull includes all levels of employees.
 
I love these threads.

Lots of big man talk, but never any action whatsoever.

People trying to actually change the inevitable due to financial constraints.

Is anybody going to actually say anything thats going to change the status quo? :nonchalance:
 
No Regrets said:
I love these threads.

Lots of big man talk, but never any action whatsoever.

People trying to actually change the inevitable due to financial constraints.

Is anybody going to actually say anything thats going to change the status quo? :nonchalance:
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No Regrets said:
I love these threads.

Lots of big man talk, but never any action whatsoever.

People trying to actually change the inevitable due to financial constraints.

Is anybody going to actually say anything thats going to change the status quo? :nonchalance:
Click to expand...

What do you think should/could be changed?
 
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