Jump to content

Canal & River Trust National Boat Count: Licence evasion at historic low


Ray T

Featured Posts

13 April 2018 

CANAL & RIVER TRUST 2018 NATIONAL BOAT COUNT SHOWS LICENCE EVASION AT HISTORIC LOW

 The Canal & River Trust’s annual national boat count shows that licence evasion on its waterways is at its lowest-ever level, with 96.9% of boats holding up-to-date licences (2017: 96.3%). 

 Jon Horsfall, interim head of boating at Canal & River Trust, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for our boat licensing customer support team.  They are out every day helping boaters with their licence requirements and trying to find ways to work things out when a boater might run into problems.  When boaters talk to us about difficulties they may be having, we are nearly always able to come up with a solution to keep them licensed.

 “It’s important that boats are licensed correctly.  Not only does this mean they’re insured and hold a boat safety certificate, but it means they’re playing their part in contributing to the huge task of keeping our canals and rivers open.  The income from boat licensing is crucial – in 2017/18 leisure licences contributed £20.2m, around 10% of total income – and it’s important that it’s shared fairly by everyone who keeps a boat on our waterways.

 “Unfortunately, a small minority continue to enjoy the benefits of boating on the waterways without putting anything back to fund their upkeep.  In 2017/18 we had to remove 108 boats from our canals and rivers as they were unlicensed or in breach of our terms and conditions.

 The national boat count also paints a picture of the changing numbers of boats across the country.  The Trust’s waterways in London have seen growth slowing: up 2.4%, compared to growth of over 9% in 2016/17.  The North also saw an increase of 2.3%, while other areas remained static.

 The survey, completed in March, records boats on waterways across England & Wales and provides a comprehensive snap-shot of licence evasion.  The information is used to support the day-to-day work carried out by the Trust.

 ENDS

 For further media requests please contact:

Fran Read, national press officer, Canal & River Trust

m 07796 610 427 e fran.read@canalrivertrust.org.uk 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a little confused by the line: “as they were unlicensed OR in breach of our terms and conditions.”

To date, so far as I know, any perceived breach of T&C’s was used to justify a revoked/refused licence, creating the necessary pre-condition for applying s.8. Are they now bypassing the licence revocation/refusal step?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, NigelMoore said:

I am a little confused by the line: “as they were unlicensed OR in breach of our terms and conditions.”

To date, so far as I know, any perceived breach of T&C’s was used to justify a revoked/refused licence, creating the necessary pre-condition for applying s.8. Are they now bypassing the licence revocation/refusal step?

I too found my attention drawn by that statement. This suggests to me too they have lifted out some correctly licenced boats only for non compliance with the contractual t&cs. 

Or it might be sloppy copywriting and they actually mean lifted out for not holding the right TYPE of licence, eg rented boats on private licences. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.