Secretary of State co-chairs coal tip safety meeting with First Minister

Secretary of State Simon Hart and First Minister Mark Drakeford chaired a meeting to discuss coal tip safety following the recent storms. The meeting was attended by the leader of the WLGA, the Coal Authority and Natural Resources Wales.

The First Minister and Secretary of State agreed their governments would work together to urgently assess the safety of tips and ensure they are being properly inspected and monitored. They agreed the following actions:

• all relevant agencies will work together to share resources and technical expertise on inspection and monitoring & establish a common set of standards for risk assessment;
• information will be provided to people living in the south Wales valleys about the safety of local tips, coordinated by a single point of contact.

The Welsh and UK Governments will co-ordinate this vital work and the meeting will reconvene next week.

Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart said:

Following the unprecedented weather conditions and flooding brought by recent storms, urgent work is being carried out to asses any risk posed to people or property and to confirm that everyone with a legal responsibility around the tips is fulfilling their safety obligations. Authorities and agencies involved are working together and good progress is being made on this vital work.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said:

I met the Secretary of State to discuss how our Governments can work together to ensure coal tips across Wales are being managed responsibly. I want to reassure people living close to coal tips across Wales that we are taking this situation seriously and we will continue to keep them informed.