England Expects

normskib

normskib

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Bored Now after paying a small fortune for my EA river license I think it would be quite nice if l could use my Boat !!! Without jeopardising the emergency services . I honestly believe that being on the river on the boat is an excellent way of self isolating therefore some consideration should be given To the social distancing that can be achieved on a Boat. It would be so nice if we were given a glimmer of hope that we could be out and about before the summer is over.
 
The 11th of May might be a day of note according to some scuttlebutt.....................apparently ?
Chum telephoned one of the Thames brokers , needs to get a boat up there.
 
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The next government review is 7th May.
I expect the present lockdown will be extended a further two weeks until the next review .
 
Old Crusty said:
EA licenses don't need to be extended as yours won't expire till 31 December ;)
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I don't have an EA license .
C&RT licenses don't run Jan to December but may start on the 1st of any month. Those licenses in place have been automatically extended by a month.
 
MartynG said:
I don't have an EA license .
C&RT licenses don't run Jan to December but may start on the 1st of any month. Those licenses in place have been automatically extended by a month.
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Yes I know. Let me re-phrase my earlier answer: EA annual registrations don't need to be extended as they all expire on 31 December and we're only in May.
 
Old Crusty said:
Yes I know. Let me re-phrase my earlier answer: EA annual registrations don't need to be extended as they all expire on 31 December and we're only in May.
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People who had a C&RT license that started , for example, in January and should expire in December 2020 have had a month added on free of charge .
It seems the same philosophy is not being applied by the EA . Instead of extending the license the EA could give a 1/12th discount off next years fee if they wished to offer the same discount as C&RT .
 
MartynG said:
People who had a C&RT license that started , for example, in January and should expire in December 2020 have had a month added on free of charge .
It seems the same philosophy is not being applied by the EA . Instead of extending the license the EA could give a 1/12th discount off next years fee if they wished to offer the same discount as C&RT .
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Being a government department the EA is unlikely to offer such an extension any more than DVLA might extend car tax. CRT is a charity so any discount or extras are a commercial decision.

The EA doesn't do commercial, it's the river regulator and it has the duty to collect the registration fees in full.

I'll be very surprised if we get any offer of extension or discount for next year.
 
banger said:
The E A has lots of people in offices pushing paper, all need paying, nice pensions etc, are you going to get an extension or discount, pigs will fly before then.
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Perhaps you could enlighten as to the actual numbers of EA pen pushers and sums being paid plus the amount of pensions these folks are being paid ?
 
oldgit said:
Perhaps you could enlighten as to the actual numbers of EA pen pushers and sums being paid plus the amount of pensions these folks are being paid ?
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I can throw some light on that. EA Thames Waterways department head count & salaries are, in broad terms, as follows:

60 lock & weir keepers, grade 3, £23k pa plus O/T & call outs
6 enforcement officers, grade 3, £23k pa (their activities are constrained by the volume of work in the legal department)
10 technical officers, grade 4, £27k pa (they work in enforcement, events liaison, accommodations, volunteer management)
6 administrators grade 3, £23k pa
6 team leaders grade 5, £36k (they manage the lock staff and have little authority)
7 managers grade 6, £45k (they manage PR, complaints, H&S, enforcement, business, M&E, assistant HMs, and avoid decisions)
1 manager grade 7, £50k (waterways manager & HM)

Pensions are now a career average, 40ths scheme. Anyone retiring up to 2015 would have been in the final salary, 60ths scheme so for example, if you worked 30 years as a lock keeper, final gross salary was £25k, pension would be 25 x 30 / 60 = £12.5k pa.

Finding a pen to push in any of the three offices can be quite a challenge.
 
Perhaps it would have been better if Cart had taken over the River after all...
(at least some of their customers take an interest in their navigations - which is sadly lacking on the Thames if this place is a fair indication....)
 
Old Crusty said:
I can throw some light on that. EA Thames Waterways department head count & salaries are, in broad terms, as follows:
.Finding a pen to push in any of the three offices can be quite a challenge.
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Going to suggest that some of the critics might have trouble supporting a wife and kids on £23K. and try getting a mortgage on that.
Going to take the risk of suggesting that some of the critics might just struggle a little bit to manage on a pension of £12.5 K.
Still plenty of time to fill in all those forms for income support, universal credit and popping down to your local food bank.
Going to guess the cost of keeping a boat in a Thames Marina and using it on the river probably costs around £5K a year and possibly even more on the Solent.
Rumour has it the Thames valley is probably one of the most expensive places in the country to live and with the highest housing and living costs in the land.
Many of them would dream about owning one boat let along two. :)
 
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I am one of those customers who take an interest in my navigation. After just parting with my business of over 30 years in the motor trade and going into semi-retirement, I’ve recently applied for a job with the EA as I’m massively interested in and enjoy being around the River Thames. Just been informed that due to Covid 19, all recruitment is on hold. Oh well, have to wait and see.
 
normskib said:
Bored Now after paying a small fortune for my EA river license I think it would be quite nice if l could use my Boat !!! Without jeopardising the emergency services . I honestly believe that being on the river on the boat is an excellent way of self isolating therefore some consideration should be given To the social distancing that can be achieved on a Boat. It would be so nice if we were given a glimmer of hope that we could be out and about before the summer is over.
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I agree with Normskib, I too am itching to get out.
Boating IS social distancing, we just need to take a little care to avoid close contact at locks.

The trouble is, we can’t be seen to be enjoying ourselves when others are stuck in indoors. My heart goes out to all those who live in flats.

Hopefully things will ease off next weekend (11/05) or very soon thereafter.
 
When the lockdown is lifted I foresee one major boating problem. Where are we going to moor? The liveaboards have been on the temporary moorings since this began and I can't see them moving on because someone else might like to use their boat.
 
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