Canals
The next item of business is a statement by Keith Brown on making the most of Scotland’s canals. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement. There should therefore be no interventions or interruptions.
14:42
I am pleased to make this statement setting out the Scottish Government’s strategy for our canals. Our five canals are some of the most famous and historic in Britain, having been built between 1768 and 1822 as transport routes. Each canal is unique, with its own characteristics.
When we look at our canals today it is easy to forget the poor condition that they were in and the uncertain future that they faced only 20 years ago. The Caledonian canal was facing closure, with bulging and leaking lock walls. A 10-year, £20 million, lock stabilisation project secured its future. The Forth and Clyde and Union canals became derelict following closure in the 1960s, and there were calls for them to be filled in. However, they reopened in 2001 as part of the £78 million millennium link project, which was the largest-ever canal restoration project in Britain. The iconic Falkirk wheel was constructed to reconnect the two canals.
In 2011, we protected that investment and subsequent investments by placing a statutory obligation on British Waterways to maintain the canals in a suitable condition for use by cruising craft. As scheduled monuments, the canals are now not only recognised as part of Scotland’s rich heritage but safeguarded for generations to come. They are no longer shunned by their communities; they are well-loved resources.
Partnership working, especially between Scottish Canals and local authorities, has been critical in recognising and realising the additional benefit that our canals can offer. I commend the partnerships that have been formed, which demonstrate that wider benefits to canal-side communities can be secured, in addition to benefits for the canal itself.
The Scottish ministers gained responsibility for Scotland’s canals in 2001. British Waterways continued as a cross-border body, receiving policy direction and funding from the Scottish Government for its Scottish activities. More than £150 million in grant in aid since 2001 has allowed it to meet statutory duties and progress new initiatives. That direct investment has acted as a stimulus for other public and private sector investment. In January, we allocated £4.6 million to Scottish Canals for shovel-ready infrastructure projects in addition to previously announced annual grant in aid of £10 million.
In 2010, the United Kingdom Government decided to transfer the canals in England and Wales to a waterways charity. British Waterways’ chair suggested that our canals might also be transferred. However, there was no appetite for such a change among Scottish stakeholders and we were not persuaded that it would be in Scotland’s best interests, so we decided to retain our canals in the public sector.
We worked closely with the UK Government and British Waterways to ensure that both Governments’ decisions were implemented smoothly, with Scottish interests protected and preparatory work undertaken to allow British Waterways Scotland to operate on a self-standing basis. Issues such as changes in legislation, the cost of change, the fair split of assets, liabilities and pensions were addressed. We adopted a business-like approach that culminated in the successful separation of the two bodies last July. The British Waterways body continues to exist, although now as a Scottish public body that is known as Scottish Canals. That significant milestone means that we now have a board that is appointed by Scottish ministers and that the policies and activities of Scottish Canals are determined solely by Scottish considerations. That stands us in good stead for moving forward.
The management of that successful change is emblematic of what can be achieved. It demonstrates that, although challenging, with good will and hard work it is perfectly feasible for Scottish and UK ministers to work jointly to separate out functions where desired, in this case after almost 50 years of cross-border operation. Perhaps that is a case study for the future.
A year ago, I advised the incoming board that I expected Scottish Canals to contribute strongly to the Scottish Government’s primary purpose. I recognised that a priority for the board was to take stock of assets and liabilities, inherited projects, policies and, of course, risks. The board has been heavily occupied with that, but it is now ready to launch its vision and values for the organisation.
Scotland’s first canal policy document was published in 2002 and explored the potential contribution of the canals, setting out a long-term vision at a time when restoration was under way. It identified that policy decisions on regeneration, planning and development, public access, integrated transport, environment and tourism could have a significant impact on the canals’ sustainable development. Partnership working, especially with the public sector, was seen as key. There was a need to increase awareness of the canals and promote voluntary sector and community involvement. That policy document stood the test of time well. Given the successful transition to Scottish Canals, this is a good time to restate our aspirations.
Our new policy is set at a strategic level and will take the canals forward for the next five to 10 years. Our canals are important assets that we wish to see utilised to enhance the future quality of life for Scotland’s inhabitants and help create a more successful, sustainable country. We look to build on the successful start that has been made on revitalising our canals and gaining wider public benefits from them. We encourage their full and sustainable development in a way that impacts positively. That can be done by continuing to develop the role that canals, both urban and rural, can play in delivering wider public benefits and by working in strong partnerships to secure those benefits.
I have encouraged Scottish Canals and its partners, whether public sector, private sector or third sector, to continue to build on relationships and to identify and exploit new contributions from canals in the delivery of the Scottish Government’s purpose. We expect Scottish Canals to continue to lead in development of the canals, taking full account of the role and legitimate interests of the Scottish Government. Scottish Canals will continue to receive Government grant and is encouraged to develop earned income streams.
The strategy for achieving our aims is based on the following seven principles, the first of which is valuing the heritage of our canals. The canals must be preserved in good condition to ensure that the integrity and appearance of these historic structures are maintained. Development should not damage or detract from their original design.
Secondly, the fulfilling of statutory and regulatory obligations is a fundamental responsibility, with proper resources being applied to ensure safe navigation for leisure and freight as appropriate. Other regulations ensure that the natural environment is protected and used wisely.
The third principle is risk management and safety. Inherent risk is associated with water-based infrastructure assets. Scottish Canals should apply the highest possible standards of care to the management of all canal operations to ensure that risks to the public are properly managed. Equally, the public should use the canals responsibly.
The fourth principle concerns increasing awareness of the canals’ potential contribution. We would like to see further growth in the number of boats navigating our canals. We place great value on the cross-cutting opportunities that the canal corridors present. Scottish Canals should, therefore, continue to build on the foundations that have been laid, maintaining a balanced portfolio of projects across a range of important areas such as navigation, tourism, regeneration and housing, freight and renewables. It should spread activity across the canals and utilise its resources wisely over time, balancing both risk and reward in line with the Government’s objectives.
The fifth principle is around delivering a high-quality experience. Scottish Canals should offer high-quality services and adopt an open and honest approach to engaging with customers and stakeholders. The significant increase in the use of the canal network for recreational purposes, although welcome, can lead to tensions. There is no hierarchy of use in the canal corridors, with fair and open access to all who exercise permitted types of use.
Sixthly, we ask Scottish Canals to work through partnership and collaboration. Extensive partnership and collaborative working should continue at both national and local level to maintain the momentum that has been built up.
Finally, we encourage the effective monitoring and measuring of the outcomes that have been achieved, so that the benefit that is gained from initiatives can be assessed and demonstrated. That will inform future decisions.
I invite members to read our new policy document, “Making the most of Scotland’s canals”, which is available on the Transport Scotland website and in the Scottish Parliament information centre. I encourage members to attend this evening’s reception with Scottish Canals in the garden lobby, which is being hosted by my colleague Stuart McMillan. It has been demonstrated that Scotland’s canals are a great national asset and their revival offers real opportunities not only for recreation and regeneration, but for the wider economy as a whole.
I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement and the strategy document. In November 2012, Scottish Canals issued a consultation that stated that the finalised heritage strategy would be available by 31 January. That document does not seem to have materialised. Can the minister advise whether the document that has been issued today includes the response to that consultation? If it does, why has the action plan for 2013 to 2018, with its 20 specific objectives, not been included? If it does not include that response, can he advise when the finalised, detailed strategy will be published?
Can the minister also advise whether the actions and communications training, educational opportunities, knowledge transfer and—importantly—funding and fundraising that the consultation document anticipated would have commenced by now are under way? Can he tell us whether Government funding additional to the annual £10 million budget of Scottish Canals has been allocated to the strategy? If so, what other organisations have been identified as partners in the implementation of the strategy?
I thank the member for those questions. Much of that has been covered in the statement. I have mentioned a number of the additional funding partners. Scottish Canals works with additional partners, including some of the stakeholders who are most interested in the canal network, to encourage further funding. The £10 million that was allocated was grant in aid and has been bolstered by a further £4.6 million—£3.3 million for this year and the remainder for the previous year.
In relation to the strategy, events have overtaken that previous proposal in the structural changes that I have mentioned. However, if the member would like more information on any parts of the strategy, I would be more than happy to get that from officials and pass it on to her. The strategy that is proposed today by Scottish Canals covers the most important aspects, such as funding, use of the canals and the future strategy. The additional £4.6 million that I have mentioned was shovel-ready funding that we managed to get to Scottish Canals fairly quickly. If we can access further funding, it will be directed towards Scottish Canals and, as I said in my statement, the priority will be those things that also increase regeneration, particularly with regard to housing opportunities at the canal side.
The funding situation is stable and has survived well, given the very constrained resources that we have. I am happy to provide any other information that the member wants that is not covered in the strategy.
I, too, thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. I congratulate him on achieving a change in the structure of the body that looks after Scotland’s canals through a process of evolution rather than revolution, which seems to have been to the satisfaction of most, if not all, of those involved.
By ensuring that Scottish Canals will continue to receive Government funding, while encouraging it to develop earned income streams, the minister may have succeeded in the partial privatisation of the industry. I congratulate him on that, too. However, I am concerned that, although the key issue of on-going funding has been dealt with, the prospect of economic sustainability in the medium to long term will require substantial capital investment, as has been the case in the past 10 years. Is the new structure an appropriate one that will attract adequate levels of substantial capital investment in the long term, or does the Government plan to be the main source of capital for the canal structures in Scotland?
I thank Alex Johnstone for his congratulations on achieving the independent status of Scottish Canals. Of course, it is not true to say that there is any element of privatisation. Local authorities have earned sources of income; all that we are asking is that Scottish Canals does that, too. It will do that not least through the fees to be paid by people navigating the canal structure, which has always been the case.
The sustainability of capital funding is an important point, not least because our capital budget has been cut by around a third, which puts pressures on all aspects of Government. However, we will continue to encourage Scottish Canals to work in partnership with other agencies. For example, the projects in Glasgow involve working with private sector agencies and local authorities. We will encourage that as best we can.
Obviously, the more funding that we encourage—there would be substantial gains for Scottish Canals, canal users and those who might want to invest along the canal side in particular—the more benefit we will see. Of course, the less that the Government has to commit to that the better, because that will allow us to invest those resources elsewhere. However, we will not leave the canals to return to the situation that they were in 20 years ago. We intend to invest in our canals to ensure a continuation of the progress that has been achieved, while bringing in other sources of funding, as we should do.
The minister will know—
I am sorry to interrupt, Mr Thompson, but please ensure that you are speaking into your microphone.
My apologies.
The minister will know that the Caledonian canal is hugely important to my constituency, especially with regard to commerce and tourism. I will attend this evening’s canal reception in the Parliament.
I commend the Scottish Government and Scottish Canals on the investment in the Caledonian canal in recent years. However, those improvements must continue if we are to reap the benefits from the canals in our country. Will the minister tell us in a bit more detail how he will encourage further growth in the number of vessels navigating our canals, particularly the Caledonian canal?
The policy that I have set out demonstrates the wish to see further growth in the number of boats navigating our canals, and it encourages canals, boaters and other parties to work together to exploit the opportunities to achieve that. Two examples that may be applicable in different forms to the Caledonian canal relate to what is happening at the Forth and Clyde canal, where overcoming the narrow tidal access offers an opportunity to encourage more transits across the canals. There is an increasing appetite to use the canals, so we want to ensure that access to canals, including the Caledonian canal, is made as easy as possible for people.
We are also looking at other opportunities for people who live by the canal side, in which there is a great level of interest. By increasing the opportunities, we will also see increased use of our canals, including the Caledonian canal.
The canal network was, of course, originally built to support the economy in our country. It is very satisfactory to note that, in constituencies such as mine, the creative industries, sporting activities and regeneration are being sparked off by the catalyst that is the Forth and Clyde canal.
The minister indicated in his statement that Scottish Canals would continue to receive a Government grant, but that it would be encouraged to develop earned income streams. Would the minister like to say a bit more about what those earned income streams might be? Does the Scottish Government have a view on the balance between grant funding from the Scottish Government and money that is generated from such income streams?
I do not think that we have a fixed view on what the balance should be, although we obviously want to maximise the funds that are generated from the earned income streams. They can come from a number of sources, whether revenue or capital.
I have mentioned housing. If we can develop housing opportunities and can get others to contribute to that investment, perhaps through other arms of Government or through social or private providers, that is a route by which increased income can be generated for Scottish Canals.
We are also seeing the development of water-based and shore-based activities, not least in the member’s constituency—I know that she has lodged two motions on the developments in her area. She will know full well the different uses to which canals are being put. Whether for canoeing or boating, there is great interest in the use of canals. If Scottish Canals can continue to maximise that interest, in some cases that will mean that a revenue will accrue to it, which will increase its income and perhaps reduce its dependency on Government funding or add to those funds, such that we can do even more on the canals.
The minister might well be aware of the content of a recent meeting of the cross-party group on architecture and the built environment, which was about learning from Norway’s use of high-quality architecture to punctuate the country’s main tourist routes. It seems to me that, in the year of natural Scotland, the canals strategy is an ideal opportunity to utilise architectural competition to give young architects much-needed experience and to quickly procure small capital projects that would enhance our tourism offering. Given that such a project would meet the seven principles that the minister outlined in his statement, will he give it due consideration?
That is a very good point. In relation to active travel—walking and cycling—we have found that small capital projects tend to have a disproportionate benefit in local areas. Their small nature means that more people tend to be employed. We want such projects to be encouraged.
We are already working to exploit the potential for small capital projects in the canal system. Examples of that include regeneration initiatives, the development of rural housing—which I have mentioned—holiday cottages and camping pods, which were the subject of a recent announcement, and the exploration of small-scale hydro schemes. Our canals are extremely important for tourism, whether in the form of heritage boating, paddling, walking or cycling, or through visitor attractions such as the Falkirk wheel, which I mentioned, and Neptune’s staircase. The scope for canals to strengthen Scotland’s tourism offering is considerable.
To come back to Linda Fabiani’s point, the policy document makes it clear that Scottish Canals will work in partnership to take advantage of opportunities to maximise the number of small capital projects that it is involved in.
I was pleased that the minister mentioned housing—which I understand falls under the fourth principle—more than once.
I want to talk about a rather different form of housing from the one that the minister has alluded to. I understand that Scottish Canals is planning to have houseboats at Kirkintilloch marina in my constituency. Has any consideration been given to whether those boats will meet the affordable housing needs criteria?
Yes. Having looked at the initiative recently, I think that it is also the case—although I could be proved wrong—that houseboats do not attract council tax, which is another way in which they are more affordable.
As the member mentioned, Scottish Canals is planning to have houseboats at Kirkintilloch marina. In January, I allocated around £4.6 million to Scottish Canals for shovel-ready projects, which included support for the living on water initiative. Kirkintilloch is one of the locations that Scottish Canals is exploring. The initiative is still at an early stage, but I can see the potential for it to contribute to the meeting of the affordable housing targets, as living on a boat can be an extremely affordable option, especially in urban areas.
I thank the minister for providing an advance copy of his statement. I agree with his point that capital investment in Scotland’s canals has certainly taken off since 2001, following some years of neglect. Does he share my view that Neptune’s staircase is one of the engineering wonders of the world and that many great achievements have been made on the canal network because of the engineering expertise that it has given rise to?
I wonder whether the minister will reflect on the fifth aim of his strategy—delivering a high-quality experience—with regard to the self-operation of locks. My recollection from a previous life is that active users of our canal network made a considerable case for being able to use the locks after a certain time at night when, because of scheduling arrangements, they were usually closed. Has there been any progress on that matter to encourage more people to use our canals, an aim that the minister is rightly pursuing?
First of all, I agree with the member’s description of Neptune’s staircase, which is a real wonder and something else to which I intend to return and have a closer look this summer.
As for canal users operating the locks themselves, I have to say that I had a fairly traumatic experience using the locks on the Crinan canal and novice users in particular need to take care to ensure that no long-term damage is caused to the canal, if I can put it that way. The decision whether locks can be operated outwith the working hours of Scottish Canals staff is best taken by those staff, who are, after all, the experts in this area and will have a fair idea of the clientele using the locks. Nevertheless, it is a fair point and I will look into it further and get back to Tavish Scott.
Only two weeks ago, I visited Bowling basin in West Dunbartonshire and saw for myself the huge opportunities that there are in regenerating the site and creating a wider economic return. How can the Scottish Government assist Scottish Canals in turning the Bowling basin into yet another first-class marine-based location on the River Clyde?
I have laid out the more general assistance that we have offered such as the £4.6 million allocation to Scottish Canals for shovel-ready projects, including a project to refurbish the disused railway bridge at Bowling in order to create a new pedestrian and cycle link and provide commercial space in the arches. Residential moorings are also proposed as part of the recently launched living on the water initiative, which was also supported by that funding.
As I have said, Scottish Canals is working with the local authority and community on a master plan for a mixed-use development. That master plan, which will happen across Scotland but is particularly relevant to Bowling, embraces the marine economy and local housing demand and taps into the huge attraction felt by people to live by the water. The maritime leisure industry has clear potential and given that our canals also promote vital connections to our sailing waters—that is especially true with regard to the Crinan canal—I expect Scottish Canals to play a full part in such developments, not least in the development at Bowling to which the member referred.
The minister will be aware of the significant investment in and great work on the Clyde and Forth canal in recent years, especially in the section that passes through Clydebank in my constituency. I would be grateful if he could inform the Parliament about what is being done to attract more volunteers into becoming more involved with the canal to ensure that we maximise its potential and that it continues to go from strength to strength.
The member quite rightly identifies the Forth and Clyde canal as one where some really exciting developments have taken place over the past decade or so. I remember the day when the Falkirk wheel was opened, but some exciting developments are happening just now at Grangemouth at the other end of the canal from the member’s area.
Voluntary organisations that are based on the canal system can make a real difference to people’s lives. Indeed, a number of them have come together to form the lowland canals volunteer group to co-ordinate activity and maximise opportunities and I would encourage anyone with an interest to get involved with it.
Scottish Canals and the Scottish Waterways Trust are also fully aware of the potential of volunteering on the canal system. Progress is being made in that regard and, as I have said, I encourage all those with an interest to come along and get involved.
That concludes the statement on making the most of Scotland’s canals.