Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 3:04 pm on 12 January 2022.
Okay. Thank you for a variety of important points in respect of coal tips, and I think your constituency—your region—and the constituency I represent obviously have a large number of coal tips.
I suppose the starting point, of course, is that when the 1994 legislation came in—and, again, going back, in fact, to the legislation after Aberfan in 1969—the focus was on working mines and operating tips rather than defunct tips. And, of course, a further matter has arisen on that, which is, of course, the difference between reclamation and making tips safe. Because reclamation in many areas are areas where Welsh Government has been engaged in, but, of course, the issue of safety of tips is something that has particularly emerged as a result of climate change, and relates to responsibilities, I believe, that go well before devolution. Now, you will have heard me the last time this was raised—and I believe you participated in the questions at that time—that I believe that, at the very least, there is a moral and a political responsibility of UK Government.
The issue of legal liability becomes much more complex because of, really, the weakness of the legislative framework that was created after 1994, where you have tips that are now in different ownerships. Some are still in the ownership of the Coal Authority, who remain responsible for them. The issues arise as to whether the responsibility only relates in terms of safety risks or broader, longer term risks. Whilst all this is going on and whilst the UK Government has clearly abrogated, I think quite shamefully, any responsibility in respect of the pre-devolution legacy of the coal industry, we, nevertheless, have to ensure that our communities are safe. Consequentially, the Law Commission has been carrying out its work. I believe that work is close to conclusion. They did hold a number of sessions, which I understand were quite well attended, within Wales. I've met with them—with the Law Commission—as well and have discussed the ongoing work, and, of course, it is the intention to legislate in this area. We have to legislate to create a framework.
The arguments in respect of funding will carry on and remain, but, as a Welsh Government, our priority, as I've said, is towards the safety of the people of Wales and our communities. So, within the next three-year budget, there's £44.4 million in there for safety work. We've also provided £800,000 to the Coal Authority in respect of their carrying out inspections of high-risk tips, and there is still work going on in respect of the evaluation and analysis of what those are and where they are and what the levels of safety are. And I understand the Minister for Climate Change has, obviously, commented on that in the past and will no doubt do so in the near future.