Yesterday in Parliament

Yesterday in Parliament David Drew (Stroud, Lab) asked the Secretary of State for DEFRA:

…how many British Waterways licensed residential moorings there are in England; and where they are located.

Hilary Benn's answer:

British Waterways directly operates 41 residential mooring sites accommodating a total of 420 authorised residential moorings located on the following waterways in England:

Aire & Calder - 6
Birmingham & Fazeley - 7
Birmingham Canal Navigations - 87
Calder and Hebble - 13
Coventry Canal - 14
Fossdyke Navigation - 20
Grand Union Canal Mainline - 71
Grand Union, Leicester Line - 5
Lee & Stort Navigation - 13
Oxford Canal - 56
Regents Canal & Pad'n Arm - 86
Sheffield and Tinsley Canal - 5
Shropshire Union Canal - 3
Staffs & Worcs Canal - 7
Worcester & Birm'ham Canal - 27

Total - 420

British Waterways is unable to maintain data on the residential status of privately operated sites.

I suppose BW could have supplied this info directly pretty quickly, and saved the minister time, but that's not what Parliamentary Questions are about.  They are normally an excuse to ask a follow-up question, which will come as a surprise to the minister and is thus more effective.

I wonder what follow-up David Drew asked, and what his motive was.  His local waterway (excluding the unrestored Cotswold canals) is the Glouc & Sharpness, and there aren't any BW residential moorings there - nor on the whole of the Severn.  Perhaps that's what he wants to see developed.

420 residential places doesn't seem that many, but as they say, those are BW - not privately operated - moorings.  I wonder if they include off-line moorings, such as in Apsley Basin (right, pic nicked off the website), which is BW-owned.

Comments

[Andrew Denny]

Thanks, Adam.
But what was the point of asking that question if he wasn't going to ask a follow-up in the House?

I've found the PR dept of BW can provide that sort of answer quite easily. But it was just a fact, not a point.

[Adam]

It was a written question with a written answer, so no follow up I'm afraid.

[Kevin]

Perhaps he's worried about his constituency being over-run by hippy boaters living on the Cotswold Canals one day!!? Or maybe he wants some new Labour voters?
(Of course the 'official' BW answer probably greatly under-estimates the actual numbers of people living on boats -- but don't tell him.