There was one statement that was made yesterday by the Minister in his oral statement to the Chamber. He said:

'The Under-Secretary of State for Wales, David T.C. Davies, told the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee that

''if the Welsh Labour Government think that those coal tips are unsafe, they must act now.... They have the money to do it."'

Simple as that, and, of course, the Deputy Minister said,

'It's not us who say it's unsafe'— the Welsh Government—

'it's the Coal Authority...and we do not have the funding to do it.'

It is really that simple. So, I think it's easy for Janet Finch-Saunders to say, 'Let's put the politics aside,' but if in Westminster they are refusing to acknowledge even that there is an issue that they are responsible for, then that is not going to solve the problem. It really is that simple.

Now, in my submission—. Before I say my submission, I should also say that Senedd Members making a submission to the Law Commission's report were Huw Irranca-Davies, Heledd Fychan, Vikki Howells, Joel James and Sioned Williams. So, well done to those Members for making those submissions, because they are important so that the voices of your communities and my community are heard. So, that was vital. Caerphilly council also made a submission.

In mine, I said,

'There need to be enhanced powers for the appropriate public authorities (devolved or otherwise) to regulate privately-owned coal tips in Wales'.

So, the regulation of privately owned tips is vital, I think, in the White Paper.

'The Welsh Government requires additional funding (most likely from the UK Government)'— though not in whole—

'to address the cost of remediating publicly-owned coal tips in Wales.'

So, those are the key points that I have made in my submission. I'd also say that Caerphilly council made four key points, three of which I agree with, and one of which I don't. So, Caerphilly council said that CCBC supports the creation of an overarching supervisory authority, echoing what I said, if it works flexibly—and this is important, Deputy Minister—allowing local authorities to use existing expertise and offering additional resources where required. They also argued that the coal tip authority maintenance agreement should be standardised across Wales.

Now, Caerphilly council has had that expertise. I've met with Caerphilly council senior officers, the director of the environment, last year, and I've spoken to the chief executive and the leader. We have a tips register, which I've seen, and there are category D tips. It's important to remember that if a tip is category D, it doesn't necessarily coincide with it being of immediate risk. The assurance I've had from the Caerphilly council director of the environment is that there are no tips in Caerphilly, certainly in my constituency, but in the borough as a whole, that are of immediate risk. We are aware of one that is category D in particular, and it is being monitored on a monthly basis, and if there are heavy rains, then it is monitored on more than a monthly basis, but it isn't of immediate risk.

Now, one thing I'd say to all political candidates in the local government elections is that you will not be thanked by residents for standing on tips and pointing at them as if they're in some kind of imminent danger. It is not a wise thing to do to make this a party political issue in the local government elections. The work is being done. The Law Commission report, to which every party in this Chamber has submitted, is taking that forward and is taking the correct action. Frightening people, by standing on specific tips, I think, is irresponsible.

Now, what Caerphilly council says regarding the register and having a public register, they said that the most prominent reason given against making the contents of the register public was the risk of blight on properties adjacent or near to high-risk tips, with an impact on land values and property prices and on the cost of insurance. There could also be an impact on properties built on remediated sites. That was emphasised by a number of councils, including Caerphilly.

I've spoken to Caerphilly today, and I think there is a balance between frightening people and also providing public information, and that is where I've got a point of difference. I think there should be a public register, it should be publicly available, but it should also contain those things that demonstrate the difference between immediate risk and the kinds of risks that are there.

So, Caerphilly council also said that the risk classification system should allow sub-categories of risk identifiable by suffix, e.g. instability, flooding, pollution and combustion, and that is in the Law Commission report as well. I think that needs to be recognised in the White Paper. I think that would then go some way to assuage the problem of publishing the at-risk register, and I think Caerphilly council would concede on that. Indeed, they said to me there was nothing in the recommendations from the Law Commission's report that concerned them unduly. In fact, they said the key issue, of course, comes back to funding.

So, we need to take a responsible approach. I don't want to get into a party-political fight on it, but Westminster do need to stump up the money, and I would like the Welsh Government and the White Paper to contain some of the issues that I've raised today.