After some embarrassing shilly-shallying a few weeks ago in response to questions from Chippenham MP Duncan Hames, the Waterways Minister Richard Benyon has confirmed that the statutory functions of the BW charity will continue to be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Mr Benyon’s statement is part of the DEFRA’s conclusions following the supplementary consultation in September and October on the transfer of BW to charity status.
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.
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.
BW directors and members of the public attending the BW AGM on 13 October were greeted by a group of BW employees condemning the “already overpaid directors” £15,000 inflation-busting bonuses as a disgrace while employees pay was not increased. The staff handed out a leaflet asking “are these the people you want to run your charity in future?”.
Graphic designer Simon Greer's take on the new logo
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 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.
The name of the new waterways charity has been announced. It will be called the Canal and River Trust. You can read one residential boater’s take on the new name on Simon Robbins’ Liveaboard Forum blog http://liveaboard-forum.blogspot.com