To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential for retailers and other companies to make greater use of inland waterway and coastal freight transport in their supply chain. (101454)

In addition to the work done by the Freight Study Group on inland waterways in England and Wales in 2002; the Department has recently funded a research project, to be undertaken by Sea and Water, to review the existing research on the potential for water freight movements in the UK and assess the need for further research. We anticipate the results in the near future.