1. Will the Minister provide an update on coal tip safety in South Wales East? OQ57887

Thank you. I'd refer the Member to the oral statement made yesterday, and, of course, we're debating this this afternoon. As we made clear, inspections of higher rated tips have recently completed and we committed £44.4 million for maintenance works over the next three years. 

Thank you for the answer.

It was clear from the coal tip safety statement yesterday that there is much more work to be done in the years ahead to make safe the legacy of our industrial past in Wales. It'll take many years and and hundreds of millions of pounds to sort this out. It goes without saying that Westminster, which reaped the benefits and the profits from the coal industry, should be footing the bill. It's a scandal that they are not. How are you linking up with other Government departments to ensure that we will have the necessary expertise and capacity within Wales to undertake the specialist work needed to make our communities safe? Remedial work considered acceptable decades ago must surely now be reassessed in light of the climate crisis we face.

Thank you, yes, and I completely agree that there is a role here for the UK Government. This is a legacy of Britain's industrial past. The tips were accumulated before power was devolved to Wales and the UK Government must play its role in meeting that bill. And I think there is consensus in this Chamber, certainly on non-Conservative benches, that that's the case.

As the Member rightly says, we do need to make sure that there is innovation and technology in the way that we address both the threat of the tip and the opportunity that regeneration brings. And there's no doubt, both through skilling and supply chain, as well as innovation, that, in meeting our obligation to deal with these tips, there are also benefits that can be brought to the communities that currently host them. So, we have an innovation programme, which I mentioned yesterday, using some world-first technologies and we'll be trialling those in the years to come. We are working with the local authorities, and, as part of the consultation now on the Law Commission report, we'll be assessing the creation of a new statutory body, which will need to be a partnership with other delivery agencies in Wales in order that we can together meet the challenge this presents.

Deputy Minister, last week, the Law Commission made a number of recommendations for a new safety regime to help protect against a range of threats to coal tip safety and to ensure a consistent approach is taken to all tips in Wales, in response to which you made a statement yesterday. In your statement, you said that the Welsh Government does not have the funding to ensure that coal tips are safe in Wales. However, in March 2020, the Secretary of State for Wales wrote a letter to all Members of the Senedd saying that the UK Government would look seriously at all requests for funding to support management of coal tips, following the spate of flooding across south Wales at that time. So, can I ask, Deputy Minister, what discussions have you had with local authorities in Wales to ensure that they are aware of this funding from the Wales Office to ensure the required action to ensure coal tip safety in the period before you introduce and pass legislation? Thank you.

Well, the funding that was made available after the floods amounted to some £9 million and around half of that has gone to coal tip safety in Tylorstown. We've spent some £20 million on that. We're facing a bill of in excess of £500 million. We've committed £44.4 million over the next three years. The UK Government has refused to give any further money, and both the Secretary of State for Wales and his under-secretary have been consistent and robust in saying that it's now not a matter for them. In their view, this is up to us to solve, and I just reject that analysis. I think it would be far better if we could work together on this and recognise that there is a shared obligation to deal with this challenge. That is not the view of the Secretary of State, as I understand it, but it would be great if Members opposite could help some sense to be seen.