Summary of 2023/24 Annual Report & Accounts
It was a year of near record spend on charitable activity, but one that saw the continued effect of climate change taking its toll on our ageing canal infrastructure. The waterways movement came together to raise the profile of the considerable benefits to society delivered by the Trust and its historic canal network following an announcement about future funding cuts by government.
Work to repair and strengthen the resilience of the canal network during the year included almost 450 planned engineering projects, at a cost of around £70 million. Delivering statutory safety measures at the charity’s large reservoirs, critical for navigation and in protecting the communities around them, continued to dominate expenditure, with over £27 million spent on resilience works at 19 of our 71 large reservoirs.
Reflecting the continued impact of climate change on the ageing canal network, the report details how, following prolonged hot dry weather the summer before, a succession of winter storms caused significant damage, with an aggregated impact of £9 million in emergency works.
The rising cost of looking after the 2,000-mile canal network is reported, with two years of high inflation significantly pushing up many of our maintenance costs. This underscores the challenge presented by the Government grant settlement, announced in July 2023, with steep funding cuts to be applied from 2027. Coming after a six-year period when the grant has been frozen (and hence its value has already fallen by over 30% in real terms), we report that this presents a very challenging prospect, putting the future of the canal network in jeopardy.
