1.3 Objective IWAC’s principal objective for this report is: “To explore how best to maintain or to improve in real terms the current level of income and expenditure in order that the whole network can be maintained in the long term in a sustainable condition thereby ensuring that the full economic and social benefits can continue to be enjoyed for many generations to come.� The report seeks to achieve this objective by: a)
Summarising and presenting factual material on existing funding and organisational arrangements for all of the navigation and other waterways bodies in the sector, the understanding of which is essential to put into context proposals both for the current (2010) and for the longer term funding and institutional changes.
b) Providing advice and guidance to government on the options for change and their implications for the funding of the sector as a whole in the context of the current discussions of the national fiscal concerns and the institutional changes in the sector presently being considered, including the possible mutualisation of BW and the navigation functions of the EA. c)
Discussing what steps need to be taken to ensure that all parts of the inland waterways sector are organised in a manner which gives the sector the best opportunity to thrive in the longer term, using an appropriate level of public funding and providing the best mix of public benefits in relation to the expenditures incurred.
The report presents conclusions which IWAC has drawn from its research into the issues of waterways funding and organisation, offers advice and makes recommendations to the UK government and to navigation authorities.
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