Cash to make coal tips safe 'scratching the surface'

About 60,000 tonnes of soil slid down the side of the old coal tip near the Rhondda village of Tylorstown in 2020

The amount of public money available to make Welsh coal tips safe "only scratches the surface", according to evidence heard by a parliamentary committee.

The Welsh Affairs Select Committee was told there was a "disparity between the scale of the challenge and available funds" to remediate high risk coal tips.

Representatives from four local authorities explained some of the challenges they face in dealing with the legacy of Wales' industrial past.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, announced £118m in her spending review on Wednesday to "keep coal tips safe in Wales".

Earlier this year, the Welsh government said it had invested more than £100m in coal tip safety during the current Senedd term as a result of its own spending and money from the UK government.

A new mining remediation authority has also been established to inspect coal tips identified as posing the highest risk to communities.

Nicola Pearce from Neath Port Talbot council said the Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill will "not be effective until there is sufficient public money in place to enable continuous monitoring or regular monitoring as well as being able to access those funds to undertake remediation work where it's necessary".

Aerial pictures showed the extent of damage caused by the Cwmtillery coal tip slide in November 2024

However, Ms Pearce said the council had received £14.4m from the Welsh government since 2020 to carry out "significant work" on one large coal tip within its ownership.

She added about £12m will have been spent on making one coal tip safe and there were 617 tips across the Neath Port Talbot area.

A shortage of the appropriate skills to manage coal tip safety and remediation was also highlighted as a concern.

Mark Williams of Caerphilly council said: "My authority has received just shy of £3m for the year 2025-26 - and it only scratches the surface.

"The money will be spent on a range of maintenance tasks. We have 205 tips in Caerphilly borough - 89 of which are in local authority ownership."

He said the cost of inspecting these tips is about £15,000 a year and that more money from UK government was needed.

"Money that's being passported is really helpful but it's really only useful for monitoring and routine maintenance, it won't really address any remediation costs."

He also reiterated concerns around a shortage of engineers with the necessary skills for the work needed to make coal tips safe, although said he believed the Welsh government had recognised this and was trying to address these challenges.

The Welsh government said: "We want to ensure our communities are safe both now and in the future, which is why we have introduced modern, first of its kind in the UK, legislation to prevent disused tips from being a threat to human life.

"We are pleased the UK government has continued to match our investment in coal tip safety, providing an additional £118m over three years to support people living in the shadow of tips.

"Taken together with the over £100m we have provided this Senedd term, our joint UK and Welsh government investment in coal tip safety now stands at over £220m."