Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will meet with coal tip safety groups in Wales to discuss his Department's proposals to ban future coal licences.

The responsibility for ensuring the safety of coal tips is a matter for the landowners and/or the Local Authority in most instances and is separate to the coal licensing duties in the 1994 Coal Industry Act.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring coal tip safety and just how much this issue resonates with local communities, particularly in the South Wales valleys, that is why the Government announced funding of £25m in 25/26 to the Welsh Government in the Budget, for making coal tips safe.