Flooding in Skewen

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:42 pm on 27 January 2021.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 3:42, 27 January 2021

Well, as I said, the fund is open to all authorities who have residents affected by extreme weather events. The one in Skewen, of course, is a particular issue caused by the collapse of mine workings, and, as we've already said several times, the Coal Authority is currently investigating the exact cause of that, but no doubt, it was exacerbated by the particularly high levels of rainfall.

We've been very well served by the good partnership between the Welsh Government and local authorities right through the pandemic, but the idea that their funding is restricted by Cardiff Bay after 10 years of Conservative austerity is a real piece of chutzpah that I think the Conservatives really need to get over, because the 10 years of the cutback of the so-called back office services that people feel are unnecessary turn out to be the very planning officers and environmental health officers who risk their lives going out in these weathers to make sure that people are well served. So, I'm really not putting up with that kind of remark. 

We've had a series of extensive discussions with the Coal Authority and the UK Government. When the mining industry closed in the early 1990s, the Coal Industry Act 1994 transferred responsibility for disused mines to the UK Government. At the same time, the Coal Authority was established and given the responsibility for managing the effects of past coal mining and dealing with the myriad of environment and safety-related issues that are a legacy of the coal-mining industry. And although the response by the emergency services, the local authority and the local community has been absolutely exemplary, we do need the UK Government and the Coal Authority to step up to the plate of their responsibilities. As I said, the First Minister is convening a summit to make sure that this happens in this particular instance, but we have had a series of ongoing conversations with the Coal Authority and the UK Government about the need for proper funding for the Coal Authority in Wales, which clearly cannot be part of any devolved Government settlement given the extensive nature of it, and the fact that it's not devolved to the UK. My colleague, Lesley Griffiths, leads those discussions in combination with the First Minister, and I'm sure there will be opportunities for Members to ask her more extensively about that in the days to come.