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42-525: British Waterways , often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom . It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland and Wales . On 2 July 2012, all of British Waterways' assets and responsibilities in England and Wales were transferred to the newly founded charity

84-401: A mutual organisation , but no further details were released. BW welcomed the announcement, with the chairman Tony Hales stating that the plan would preserve the canals and their associated infrastructure, and "safeguard against a return to the decline and dereliction which they faced in the last century". It would also "unlock the enormous public support that there is for them." By September of

126-493: A transit district or special purpose corporations such as a university , are also created by statute. In some states, a city or county can be created by petition of a certain number or percentage of voters or landholders of the affected area, which then causes a municipal corporation to be chartered as a result of compliance with the appropriate law. Corporations to be established for most other purposes are usually just incorporated as any other non-profit corporation , by filing

168-419: A canal or river once managed by British Waterways. In addition to the watercourses, British Waterways also cared for and owned 2,555 listed structures including seventy scheduled monuments . A further 800 areas have special designation and a further hundred are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Through its charitable arm The Waterways Trust , British Waterways maintained a museum of its history at

210-477: A government grant, issued via the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs , and gained a further £14 million through third party contributions. However, operating revenue for the company was at a deficit of £3.7 million, a result of a large cut of 16 per cent in the government grant given to BW, and through the continuing programme of renovation and works costing £92.1 million. British Waterways owned

252-568: A large canalside property portfolio which made a considerable contribution to the funding of the waterway network. This amounted to £130m in the five years prior to 2008. As of 2008, a HM Treasury team was reviewing the management of this portfolio in terms of public sector savings and efficiencies. Another source of revenue contemplated by BW in October 2008 was the installation of 50 wind turbines on waterside land, generating around 100 megawatts. As part of British Waterways' commitment to promote

294-526: A number of which have been privatised, in part or in whole, since the 1980s: these have included the national airline Qantas , Telstra (also previously known as Telecom Australia) and the Commonwealth Bank . A statutory corporation in Germany is called a Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (KdöR). An example of a statutory corporation is a Kassenärztliche Vereinigung , a body involved in

336-536: A profit without one). Such bodies do not have shareholders , but are typically boards appointed by a sponsor minister. The provisions of the Companies' Acts do not typically directly apply to such bodies, although their founding legislation may specify similar requirements. The statutory corporation format was usually the form most state-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland took until recent years; however,

378-764: A result of the enabling law. There are a number of federally chartered corporations that still exist. Some relatively famous ones include the Boy Scouts of America , each of the Federal Reserve Banks , and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation . The basic advantage for being federally chartered is that no other corporation anywhere in the United States is allowed to have the same name. Transport Act 1968 Too Many Requests If you report this error to

420-399: A result, many remainder waterways could face abandonment or transference to the local authority who would contribute to the waterway's upkeep as part of the act. Additionally, many of these remainder waterways were crossed by new roads and motorways without provision for boat navigation. As the century progressed, leisure boating on the canals began to expand, with numbers reaching 20,000 by

462-598: A state-owned entity, operating as Scottish Canals . British Waterways operated from headquarters in Watford , with additional administrative offices in Leeds and thirteen regional waterway offices. At the strategic level, there were ten non-executive board members, who were led by the chairman (in the final phase of operations, Tony Hales), and appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and

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504-486: A type of statutory authority created by Acts of state or federal parliaments. A statutory corporation is defined in the federal Department of Finance 's glossary as a "statutory body that is a body corporate, including an entity created under section 87 of the PGPA Act" (i.e. a statutory authority may also be a statutory corporation). An earlier definition describes a statutory corporation as "a statutory authority that

546-493: Is a body corporate created by the legislature with defined powers and functions and is financially independent with a clear control over a specified area or a particular type of commercial activity. It is a corporate person and has the capacity of acting in its own name. Statutory corporations therefore have the power of the government and the considerable amount of operating flexibility of private enterprises. A few are: Features: Which define its objectives, power and duties. It

588-647: Is a body corporate", and the New South Wales Government 's Land Registry Services defines a state-owned corporation as "a statutory authority that has corporate status". Current statutory corporations include Australia Post , Airservices Australia , the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the Australian Egg Corporation . The purpose of their separation from normal government operations

630-622: Is created by a special law Of parliament. It may be established by the central government are also known as National corporations. In the Republic of Ireland , a statutory corporation is a body corporate, which is created under a particular Act of the Oireachtas . Some statutory corporations are expected to operate as if they were a commercial company (with or without a subsidy from the Exchequer , depending on whether or not it would make

672-471: Is not used to describe a company which operates as a conventional shareholder-owned company registered under the Companies Acts. A public body can have a variety of forms and is not inevitably a statutory corporation, nor is a statutory corporation necessarily a public body. At the state level, municipal corporations and counties are often created by legislative acts. Some organizations such as

714-429: Is to ensure profitability, and in theory, independence of decision making from the state or national government (to ensure that decisions are made on a commercial basis with less or no political interference.) As statutory corporations, their regulatory and business conditions may be significantly different from private-sector companies. A significant number of the statutory corporations are private commercial operations,

756-544: The Canal & River Trust , and logo were revealed in October 2011, and the trust was granted charitable status on 5 April 2012. On 2 July 2012 all of British Waterways' responsibilities for waterways in England and Wales were transferred to the Canal & River Trust . The Scottish Government , however, decided that the waterways in Scotland would not be part of the new charity, and that British Waterways Scotland would remain

798-507: The Canal & River Trust . The following waterways and dockland were under British Waterways' ownership and care: The Environment Agency is the navigation authority for the non-tidal River Thames , rivers in the Fens and East Anglia and some other waterways. The Port of London Authority is that for the tidal section of the Thames. The Broads Authority is the navigation authority for

840-549: The Canal & River Trust . In Scotland, British Waterways continues to operate as a standalone public corporation under the trading name Scottish Canals . The British Waterways Board was initially established as a result of the Transport Act 1962 and took control of the inland waterways assets of the British Transport Commission in 1963. By the final years of its existence, British Waterways

882-894: The Ffestiniog Railway , the Talyllyn Railway , the National Coal Board , Post Office Corporation and Transport for London . Other examples include the county councils , the National Assembly for Wales , the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Channel Four Television Corporation , and the Olympic Delivery Authority . Statutory corporations are widely used in education: Sixth Form College Corporations and Further Education Corporations,

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924-861: The Food Safety Authority of Ireland . In the Netherlands , the term "public body" is the general denomination for administrative divisions within the Dutch state or certain other types of governmental organisations. In the United Kingdom , a statutory corporation is a corporate body created by statute . It typically has no shareholders and its powers are defined by the Act of Parliament which creates it, and may be modified by later legislation. Such bodies have often been created to provide public services, examples including British Railways ,

966-542: The National Waterways Museum 's three sites at Gloucester Docks, Stoke Bruerne and Ellesmere Port . Since the transfer of the assets and responsibilities of British Waterways to the Canal & River Trust, The Waterways Trust in England and Wales has merged with the Canal & River Trust. It continues, however, as an independent charity in Scotland. During the early 20th century, the canal network

1008-564: The Norfolk Broads . The Manchester Ship Canal , Bridgewater Canal , Basingstoke Canal , Neath and Tennant Canal , Cam and Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation were managed by other authorities. Statutory corporation Bodies described in the English language as "statutory corporations" exist in the following countries in accordance with the associated descriptions (where provided). In Australia , statutory corporations are

1050-768: The Scottish Government (eight by the former and two by the latter). In addition, there were nine executive directors led by Robin Evans, the Chief Executive. At a regional level, British Waterways was divided into thirteen regional waterways; each appointed a waterways manager. These regions were: British Waterways was funded through a mixture of commercial activities, government grants and grants and donations from charitable bodies. In 2010/11, BW raised over £103.6 million from their commercial activities, including waterways licensing, received £58.9 million from

1092-638: The Transport Act 1962 , the British Transport Commission was split into several new organisations, including the British Railways Board and the London Transport Board , with the inland waterways of Britain becoming part of the new British Waterways Board (BWB). In the same year, a remarkably harsh winter saw many boats frozen into their moorings, unable to move for weeks at a time. That was one of

1134-601: The canals to users other than boaters, BW set up the Waterscape website in 2003 to be an official information and leisure resource for UK inland waterways. The website worked alongside the Environment Agency and the Broads Authority and covered all canals, rivers and waterways in England, Scotland and Wales. The Waterscape website was taken down on 3 July 2012 and was replaced by the new website of

1176-480: The conservation of historic structures". However, by the late 1990s the canal network and British Waterways were flourishing; revenues generated for canal maintenance reached £100 million for the first time in 1998, large grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund allowed the canal network to expand again by restoring former canals and additional funding was announced for British Waterways in 1999 by

1218-643: The construction of motorways in the 1950s, and legislation such as the Clean Air Act 1956 affecting the coal carriers using the waterways, that policy could not be sustained. The last regular coal long-distance narrow-boat-carrying contract, from Atherstone to the Kearley and Tonge jam factory at Southall near London, ended in October 1970, although lime juice continued to be carried by narrow boat from Brentford to Boxmoor until 1981, and aggregate from Thurmaston to Syston from 1976 until 1988. Under

1260-403: The early 1980s. Additionally, the work of voluntary restoration groups succeeded in restoring some waterways to their former condition. However, despite this steady progress throughout the 1970s and 1980s, organisations such as English Heritage criticised the newly named British Waterways for failing to provide "adequate training or access to professional advice [for British Waterways officers] on

1302-542: The legal form of Sixth Form Colleges and Further Education Colleges , as well as Higher Education Corporations, the legal form of most post-1992 universities , are all statutory corporations created under the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 ; a small number of older universities are also statutory corporations created under specific acts of parliament. The phrase

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1344-410: The nationalised waterways into three distinct categories as specified by BWB: British Waterways Board was required under the Act to keep commercial and cruising waterways fit for their respective traffic and use. However, these obligations were subject to the caveat of being by the most economical means and BWB had no requirement to maintain remainder waterways or keep them in a navigable condition. As

1386-675: The paperwork with the appropriate agency as part of the formation of the entity. At the Federal level, a small number of corporations are created by Congress . Prior to the District of Columbia being granted the ability to issue corporate charters in the late 19th century, corporations operating in the District required a congressional charter . With limited exceptions, most corporations created by Congress are not federally chartered, but are simply created as District of Columbia corporations as

1428-471: The potential for volunteers on the waterways, allowing the waterways community to play a greater role. Its plans involved moving to become a charitable trust , in charge of the current canal systems in addition to acquiring other waterways, such as those operated by the Environment Agency . In March 2010, the plans were given a boost when the government announced in the Budget that it intended to turn BW into

1470-548: The provision of out-patient medical services in a German state. Other examples include public broadcasters, Jewish communities and Christian churches established in Germany and some public transport providers (depending on jurisdiction). In Hong Kong, some corporations are incorporated by legislation. An example is the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation , which owns the railway network and was previously also an operator. The MTR Corporation Limited

1512-459: The reasons given for the decision by the BWB to formally cease most of its commercial narrow boat traffic on the canals. By that time, the canal network had shrunk to just 2,000 miles (3,200 km), half the size it was at its peak in the early 19th century. However, the basic network was still intact, with many of the closures affecting duplicate routes or branches. The Transport Act 1968 classified

1554-624: The same year, the proposals seemed likely to be enacted; a leaked list of quangos that were due to be abolished was acquired by the BBC , including British Waterways, with the note: "Abolish as a non-departmental public body and mutualise". The following month saw an official announcement from British Waterways confirming the leaked list, and that a new charity would be established to tend the 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of canals and rivers in England and Wales cared for by British Waterways. The new name,

1596-424: The then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott . By the early 2000s, boating numbers had overtaken the previous industrial revolution high and the canal network was officially classed as 'safe' following the completion of all outstanding safety works. By 2009, British Waterways was looking for a means of gaining a larger and more secure supply of funding in order to plug a £30m shortfall in its budget, while utilising

1638-507: The usual policy today is that a private limited company by shares or public limited company incorporated under the Companies' Acts is set up instead, with the relevant minister holding 100% of the issued share capital. Nonetheless, as of 2007 several prominent statutory corporations continue to exist, such as Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), Bord Gáis Éireann , An Bord Pleanála ,

1680-606: Was also such a company, then named as Mass Transit Railway Corporation. Other examples include the Ocean Park Corporation , and the former Industrial Estates Corporation and Land Development Corporation . Statutory corporations are government establishments brought into existence by a Special Act of the Parliament. The Act defines its powers and functions, rules and regulations governing its employees and its relationship with government departments. This

1722-421: Was in decline because of increasing competition from the railways and road transport. Until the 1950s, freight and other cargo was still carried on the canals, by then owned by the railway companies. When the railways were nationalised in 1948, the canals they owned were also incorporated into the new British Transport Commission . The Commission focused on encouraging commercial traffic to the waterways, but with

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1764-423: Was sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in England and Wales, and by the Scottish Government in Scotland. British Waterways managed and maintained 2,200 miles (3,541 km) of canals , rivers and docks within the United Kingdom including the buildings, structures and landscapes alongside these waterways. Half of the United Kingdom population lives within five miles of

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