The Law

Where it is written

BW Charity Transfer Delayed

Monday, January 30th, 2012

 It looks like the transfer of BW to charity status will be held up due to the time the Parliamentary procedure is expected to take.

Public Bodies Bill becomes law but still time to object to BW charity registration

Friday, December 16th, 2011

The Public Bodies Bill that will enable the government to transfer BW to a charity, gained Royal Assent on 14 December and is now law. There is still time to object to the registration of the Canal and River Trust. We understand that the application to register the charity will be made very soon so there isn’t a lot of time to get your objections in.

Now’s the time to object to registration of BW charity!

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Trustees of the Canal and River Trust plan to register the new charity in November or December 2011. If you will be directly affected by this you have the right to object to the registration of the charity. Objections should be sent to the Charity Commission. The Bill that will allow BW to be transferred to a charity has passed through the Committee stage in Parliament without much change. Now is the time to object to it being registered with the Charity Commission.

Were you living on the canals on 25 October 1994 without a mooring?

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

If you were living on your boat on BW waterways on or before 25 October 1994, you may be protected from enforcement action by an Undertaking which BW made to Parliament during the passage of the 1995 British Waterways Act through Parliament.

Benyon says sorry in writing for FOI blunder

Friday, October 28th, 2011

We can bring you the full text of Waterways Minister Richard Benyon’s written statement of apology to the House of Commons for pre-empting the results of DEFRA’s second consultation on the new waterways charity, which includes the issue of whether the Canal and River Trust will be subject to FOI. Mr Benyon wrote:

Waterways Minister apologises for wrong FOI answer

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

Waterways Minister Richard Benyon today apologised to MP Duncan Hames for giving him an incorrect answer to his question about whether the new Canal and River Trust would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The Minister had said that the charity would be subject to the FOI Act in the same way as BW is now.

Waterways Minister says new waterways charity will be subject to FOI

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

In response to a question on 13 October from Duncan Hames, the MP for Chippenham, Waterways Minister Richard Benyon stated in the House of Commons that the new waterways charity would still be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

Legal challenge to revised mooring guidance expected

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

A legal challenge to BW’s revised Mooring Guidance for Continuous Cruisers is expected after BW rejected a “letter before claim” from boater Nick Brown. It is likely that Mr Brown will issue Judicial Review proceedings on the grounds that the revised guidance is ultra vires, in other words BW does not have the legal power to enforce it, and that it does not reflect the meaning intended by Parliament of Section 17 3 c ii of the 1995 British Waterways Act.

BW blocks FOI request about continuous cruising case law

Monday, October 17th, 2011

BW claimed in its reply to the River Lea mooring plan consultation responses that it had case law to support its statement that its draconian proposals for mooring restrictions did not threaten boat dwellers’ human rights. Boater Simon Robbins made a Freedom of Information request to BW in September asking for copies of the relevant judgements. BW refused Simon’s FOI request. You can read the correspondence here.

Our take on BW’s revised Guidance

Friday, October 14th, 2011

BW’s revised Guidance for Boaters Without a Home Mooring follows a meeting with user groups on 23 June. BW has stated that there will be no further consultation or review of this guidance. Guidance for Boaters Without a Home Mooring differs from the draft revision published by BW in April following the judgement in the BW v Davies case.