asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will take steps to establish a national navigation authority for the better management commercially and recreationally of Great Britain's inland waterways as proposed by the Inland Waterways Association.

The proposal to create a national navigation authority is an integral part of the Government's wider proposals for the water industry set out in the White Paper"The Water Industry in England and Wales: The Next Steps ", on which action will be taken when the parliamentary timetable permits.