Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:05 pm on 26 May 2021.
[Inaudible.]—Delyth Jewell. As you know, there has been a huge amount of work done in relation to coal tip safety since we had that landslide in Tylorstown in February 2020. The First Minister convened a coal tip safety forum, and obviously the UK Government—the Secretary of State for Wales—sat on that forum, because, as you say, it is the UK Government that—. This is a legacy; this predates devolution. And clearly the UK Government need to provide significant funding, because, as you say, with every month that passes, that bill gets bigger and bigger. So, it is really important.
One of the things that became very apparent very quickly was that we didn't know where all those coal tips were and who owned them. So, a huge amount of work has been done to get a register, because, as you say, many of them are privately owned. A lot of them are in the local authority ownership, but I think the majority of them are privately owned. So, this is a piece of work that's been done. There is a helpline. The Welsh Government made sure that there was a helpline available for people if they're concerned, and I will make sure that that phone number for that helpline goes to all Members, because, clearly, we've got new Members who may not be aware of it. But this is a piece of work that continues to be a priority for the Welsh Government, working with the UK Government and, obviously, local authorities.