4. Will the Minister make a statement on the division of responsibilities for inspecting and keeping coal tips safe? OAQ55161

Thank you. The management of coal tips is the responsibility of the landowner. In many cases, this will be a local authority, Natural Resources Wales or the Coal Authority. Where there are concerns about a coal tip, the relevant authorities have powers to inspect them and, if necessary, to undertake remedial work.

Thank you for that answer. It seems that—. My concern is that, when the First Minister said that all these organisations had responsibilities for inspecting these tips—I just worry whether there's any overlap of responsibility where one organisation may not be clear who’s doing what. In respect of Welsh Government owned land, is it solely a matter for NRW to assure you and us? And where—. You said the landowner was responsible, but then you listed various organisations who might not be the landowner, for instance, if it's private land. What then is the responsibility of the Coal Authority versus the local authority in which that land is?

I think you highlight some very important points, which we are obviously looking at very urgently and very carefully. You'll be aware from the First Minister's answers that he met with the Secretary of State for Wales and, clearly, this is something that, in the immediate aftermath of the landslip that we did see, they discussed: coal tip safety. 

In relation to your question around Welsh Government land: yes, it is NRW. Across all of these coal tips there are, as I say, local authorities, Natural Resources Wales or Welsh Government, the Coal Authority, and there are some private owners. I don't think it's too much to ask to have a register of all these. I think that's something that we need to get up and running very quickly. Clearly, even if it's a private landowner, the local authority, where that would be, would have the powers to go in and inspect it, for instance.

So, I think it's really important that we bring this piece of work to a close as quickly as possible. I know there was a further meeting last Friday at official level. There was a meeting this morning, certainly with my officials and I think the Coal Authority, again. So, I want to reassure people that it's something that's being looked at very urgently. 

Minister, the recent landslide in Tylorstown in the Rhondda valley evoked distressing memories of the terrible tragedy that occurred in Aberfan in 1966. Last year, it was announced that the Coal Authority had been awarded a five-year contract by Natural Resources Wales to undertake tip and quarry inspections in south Wales. Ultimately, the best solution is for these tips to be removed altogether. Minister, what discussions have you had with the Coal Authority and Natural Resources Wales with regard to removing this blight from the Welsh landscape? 

I think you're absolutely right, it was certainly very emotive. When I visited Tylorstown with the First Minister, you couldn't help but think back to that dreadful time. Certainly, talking to residents, it was clearly something that they were thinking of and that's why it was so important that the First Minister met so quickly with the Secretary of State. Those discussions happened at that meeting. I think it was something that we looked at. I think it's really important that, perhaps, we have one body that oversees all of these, rather than the dispersed way it is at the moment, which Mark Reckless referred to in his opening question. As I say, this is a piece of work that we are doing very quickly in order to be able to bring—. Obviously, the First Minister will want to report to Members. 

Minister, last week, when I questioned the First Minister on what was being done to assess the safety of coal tips following recent heavy rain, he told me that all the tips that posed the greatest risk will have been investigated by the end of last week. So, can you confirm if this has happened and can you inform us whether these assessments have discovered anything that would cause us concern? The safety of people is clearly paramount, and has to be, so can you also inform us if standards of safety are being recalibrated to take into account a future climate where heavy rainfalls and floods are going to be more common?

Finally, there was no word from the First Minister on my question about the return of land reclamation schemes for brownfield sites. Those land reclamation schemes have been demanded, as I understand it, by local authorities after being cut by your Government just a few years ago. Has your Labour Government considered a u-turn on land reclamation schemes funding to ensure that former coal tips are not just available for economic use but that we can all be confident that they are made safe?

In response to your last question about the discontinued land reclamation scheme, I'm not aware of any discussions, but that wouldn't fall within my portfolio, I don't think, so it could be that another Minister would be looking at that. 

I think your point about standards is really important. I think we do need to look at standards, because clearly when those tips were there originally, the words 'climate change' hadn't even been discussed. So, I think, certainly as part of this ongoing piece of work, standards will need to be looked at. 

I haven't been given a report around the inspections. As far as I know, all the inspections have been completed and I'm awaiting a piece of information about that, which I'd be very happy to share with Members if possible. 

Could I ask how much of the inspections, which I very much welcome, will deal not only with the large and obvious coal tips and coal deposits that still remain in some valleys, but also those which actually have been subject of reclamation previously, where you have, for example, housing, roads or other infrastructure built on top of it? Because it would seem to me that the same issues of saturated land and increasingly traumatic and increasingly frequent heavy flooding and rain may have issues for those.

Now, I'm not sure that those are within the investigations, but I'd like to reassure my constituents that things such as former opencast sites, roads and rails that are built, in effect, on coal sidings, that those will also be investigated as well. And if she doesn't have the answer now, I wonder if she could write to me, particularly in respect of my own constituency. 

My understanding is that it was the high-risk tips that were being looked at as a matter of urgency by the end of last week. So, I think what you're referring to is obviously a significant piece of work, which I don't have the timescale on, but I'll certainly look at your own constituency and write to you.