Fiona Bruce MP wins Parliamentary Award
Fiona Bruce MP was presented with the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) Parliamentarian of the Year Award on Tuesday this week in the House of Commons.
Fiona said “I was delighted, but even more, utterly surprised, to win this award.”
As Treasurer of the Parliamentary Waterways Group, Fiona Bruce MP challenged in Parliament the funding provision and potential pension liabilities which the new Canals and Rivers Trust would inherit, when it takes over running and maintaining our canals from British Waterways in a few months time. In addition to raising questions with Ministers and challenging them to improve future funding provision, she also cross examined the British Waterways and Canal and River Trustees at some length at a Parliamentary hearing of the Waterways Group on the proposed plans.
This week Fiona said “I am very pleased that as a result of the hard work of many people in Parliament and outside, including members of the IWA, the Government has substantially increased future funding for our waterways. This is a particularly important subject for me as so many boaters and walkers enjoy their leisure time on and around the canals in my constituency and our local waterways are a key part of what makes it so attractive – it’s important to keep them that way.”
The funding the Government proposed originally was £390 million over ten years and will now be the considerably improved sum of around £800 million over fifteen years.
Fiona Bruce became a member of the IWA as part of her campaigning on this issue and is Vice President of the Macclesfield Canal Society.
