Scottish Canals () is the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

body responsible for managing the country's inland waterways. Formerly a division of British Waterways, it became a stand-alone corporation on 2 July 2012, then an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government in April 2020. Based in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scottish Canals cares for of waterway network in total, including 17 reservoirs and the navigation rights to four lochs, including

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

. The body is responsible for five canals. * Caledonian – * Crinan – * Forth and Clyde – * Monkland (no longer operational, although two watered sections remain) – * Union Canal –

History

British Waterways was founded in 1962 under the Transport Act, taking over statutory responsibility for operating and maintaining waterways across Great Britain. In 2010 the

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

determined that responsibility for inland waterways in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

should pass to a new charitable trust, the

Canal & River Trust The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the ...

. However, the

decided that canals in Scotland would remain publicly owned and British Waterways would continue to operate in Scotland as a

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a corporation, government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government ...

trading as Scottish Canals. This public body became wholly accountable to Scottish Ministers with effect from 2 July 2012. Legally, the organisation is still referred to as the British Waterways Board, but in all other aspects it uses the brand Scottish Canals. In 2017, with a workforce of around 250 people, it was accredited as a Scottish Living Wage employer. In April 2020, Scottish Canals changed from operating as a public corporation to a non-departmental public body. This change in designation was made by

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

because Scottish Canals did not generate half its revenues externally.

References

External links

* 2012 establishments in Scotland Companies based in Glasgow British companies established in 2012 Government agencies established in 2012 Executive non-departmental public bodies of the Scottish Government {{water-transport-stub