Apply for our citizens’ boater panel

We’re setting up a volunteer citizens’ panel of around 40 boaters to create a clearer, fairer licensing system for people who go boating.

This is part of our response to the 2025 independent Commission on Boat Licensing, which highlighted that the existing licensing system doesn’t work well.

Read the video transcript
As part of our consultation on how to improve boating on the inland waterways, we're setting up a citizens boater pane.
Formed of around 40 boaters, it will include people with different boating lifestyles. It will help us understand perspectives that may not always be heard and ensure real world boating experiences help shape the consultation from the outset.
The citizen boater panel will take part in two full-day workshops: one before the consultation, to help us create the consultation survey itself, and one after the consultation to help us review the outcomes.
We hope that bringing lived experience into the process will ensure any outcomes are practical out on the cut.
All boat license holders will receive an email inviting them to be part of it. If you haven't received an email or if you're a boater but not the license holder, let us know. Everyone is invited to apply.

About the citizens' boater panel

The citizens’ boater panel is a group of around 40 boaters from a wide range of backgrounds, locations and boating lifestyles who will help shape our upcoming consultation to create a clearer, fairer licensing system for people who go boating.

The panel will work with us before the consultation launches to ensure it reflects the real experiences, priorities and challenges faced by people who use the waterways today. Members will take part in workshops this autumn to explore how licensing and navigation requirements affect life on the water and draft the consultation that will follow with the wider boating community. After the consultation, members will work with us to review the outcomes and ensure any recommended changes work for boaters.

We’re committing to a ‘comply or explain’ approach. This means that your feedback will be accepted and built into the policy. If that isn’t possible, for example for legal, financial, operational, or other reasons, we’ll provide a comprehensive and transparent explanation.

How to apply

All boaters are invited to apply. All Canal & River Trust boat licence holders who have opted in to receive communications from us will receive a direct invitation to do so.

To ensure the panel reflects the boating community as fairly as possible, you’ll be asked to provide demographic details, as well as details about your boating lifestyle, as part of the application process. Applications will be anonymised and participants selected through a random selection tool which is designed to create representative citizen panels. This approach will ensure that no single viewpoint dominates and that a broad range of boating voices can contribute to shaping the consultation.

If you do not currently hold a Canal & River Trust licence, you can request an application link through our website or by contacting our customer service team.

Applications are open for six weeks from Tuesday 4 August 2026.

Citizen's boater panel FAQs

Why are you creating a citizens’ boater panel?
We want boaters to play a genuine role in shaping the consultation before it opens.
The panel will help us understand how different licensing arrangements and navigation requirements affect people's day-to-day lives, draft and test consultation questions, and ensure the consultation is fair, balanced and easy to understand. It will then reconvene after the consultation, to help us review the outcomes and determine any future changes, ensuring lived experience is at the heart of any changes.
Do I need to belong to a boating organisation?
No. In fact, we are particularly keen to hear from boaters whose views may not always be represented through formal organisations or established groups.
What are you looking for in panel members?
We want the panel to reflect the diversity of the boating community. This includes people with different boating lifestyles, ages, backgrounds, locations, types of boat, mooring status, and types of boat use, including leisure, liveaboard and business boating.
How will panel members be chosen?
Applicants will be asked to provide some information about themselves and their boating lifestyle.
Applications will then be anonymised before selection takes place using an independent random selection tool designed specifically to create representative citizens’ panels.
This helps ensure the panel reflects the boating community and that no single group or viewpoint dominates.
Why do you need demographic information?
We use this information solely to help create a panel that broadly reflects the boating community.
Who runs the selection process?
The panel will be selected using a stratified random selection tool provided by the newDemocracy Foundation, an organisation that supports representative citizens’ panels and assemblies.
How much time will panel members need to commit?
We request that panel members attend two full-day workshops. These will be held in person, however, we can also arrange an online component if members are unable to travel to workshops in person. One of these will be held in October, and another in March 2027. There may be further online sessions over this period.
What will panel members do?
Panel members will help us:
- Explore how licensing arrangements affect day-to-day life on the waterways
- Identify practical challenges faced by boaters
- Review draft consultation questions
- Test whether consultation materials are clear and neutral
- Ensure lived experience is reflected throughout the consultation design
Will the panel make decisions on future policy?
No. The panel will not have final authority on decisions. It will help shape the consultation and ensure a wide range of boating experiences are reflected before the wider public consultation begins. Members will also work with us to review the consultation outcomes to make sure any changes work on the cut.
What happens after the consultation?
The Citizens’ Boater Panel will reconvene after the consultation to review the findings and help us consider how feedback from boaters can be reflected in future policy development.
Will you have to follow the panel’s recommendations?
We are committed to a “comply or explain” approach. This means we will seek to incorporate feedback received through the panel and wider consultation wherever possible. If we are unable to do so because of legal, financial, operational or other constraints, we will explain clearly and transparently why.
How does the citizens’ boater panel fit with other engagement activities?
The panel is one part of a wider engagement programme. Alongside the panel, we will continue to work with national boating organisations, boater representatives, local boating groups and individual boaters to help shape the consultation.
How is this different from the public consultation?
The Citizens’ Boater Panel helps shape the consultation before it opens. The public consultation, launching in December 2026, will be open to all boaters and stakeholders, giving everyone the opportunity to share their views.
What if I’m not selected?
We expect to receive more applications than there are places available. If you are not selected for the panel, there will still be opportunities to get involved, including the public consultation opening in December.
How will my personal information be used?
Information provided as part of your application will be used to support the selection process and create a broadly representative panel. Applications will be anonymised before selection is carried out. Further information can be found in the application privacy notice.
Is the citizens’ boater panel being used to justify decisions that have already been made?
No. The purpose of the panel is to help shape the consultation before it is launched. Panel members will help test ideas, challenge assumptions and ensure the consultation reflects real experiences from across the boating community. The consultation itself will remain open to all boaters, and no decisions will be made before feedback has been considered.

We know we're facing a huge challenge with water resources at the moment. Our chief executive, Campbell, has addressed the challenges facing the canals in an open letter, and our engineers and on-the-ground teams are working flat-out on water-saving repairs. At the same time, we need to continue our work to fix the real issues we know many of you have with the licensing system. Please rest assured that this doesn't take away from the massive effort to conserve water, which is our top priority right now.