CRT have just announced the outocme of the long consulation on licensing.

The headline changes, to be phased in over five years from April 2019, are that:

• Boaters who currently receive a prompt payment discount will see that retained but this discount will be reduced from 2019 and, from 2020, part of this discount will apply for those who manage their payments online and part for automated payment methods (for example by credit/debit card or by direct debit).

• An additional charge, of up to 20%, will be levied on wider boats, to be phased in over the five years. There will be three pricing bands for boat width in addition to the existing bands for boat length, which remain unchanged.

• With the exception of the discount for electric boating, which will be reviewed to see if it can more explicitly encourage greener boating, all other discounts available, including for historic boats, charity boats, and unpowered butties, will remain unchanged.

• There will be no difference in licence fees for boats without a home mooring.  Instead, the Trust will be undertaking further work to develop a fair means of reflecting the benefits experienced by boaters without home moorings who remain in the most popular places like London.

To read the changes in full, and a summary of the consultation, are to be found on CRT web site here.