Janet Finch-Saunders MS, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, as spoken out in the Welsh Parliament today on the need for the Welsh Government to establish a single supervisory body with responsibility for the safety of tips in Wales.
Her calls come following the recent publication of a report by the Law Commission: Regulating Coal Tip Safety in Wales: Report (23 March 2022).
The report highlighted that a number of problems need addressing, such as:
- loss of specialist skill over recent decades
- severe strain on local authority resources
- uneven distribution of tips across Wales that places a disproportionate burden on some local authorities
- and a set of statutory powers that only come into play once a tip has become unstable.
The Commission have recommended that a single supervisory body with responsibility for the safety of tips and greater powers be formed. After pursuing this proposal, Janet said:
“Wales needs a single supervisory body with responsibility for the safety of tips. Over 90% of respondents agree with the proposal.
“Such a body would help authorities act proactively rather than reactively in ensuring tip safety.
“I was assured from the Deputy Minister’s response that careful consideration will be given to the proposal, but it must be emphasised that if he is minded to agree, the new supervisory authority should be a genuinely new body.
“Given the serious pressures NRW are already facing, it would make no sense to make the authority a new division of that organisation.
“The people of Wales deserve and need a supervisory body that is one hundred percent focussed on achieving safe tips”.
