‘Westminster must fully fund coal tip safety to prevent another Aberfan’ – Plaid Cymru
Ann Davies MP to lead debate in Parliament on coal tip safety
Caerfyrddin MP, Ann Davies will today (Wednesday 22 October) lead a debate in Parliament on coal tip safety and the prohibition of new coal extraction licenses.
Over 50% of all the coal tips in the UK are in Wales, despite Wales making up just 8.5% of the UK’s total landmass. Of the 2,590 Welsh coal tips, many are considered dangerous to the public with a risk that a significant number may collapse due to increasingly extreme weather.
The Welsh Government previously said that £600m was needed to remediate coal tips in the south Wales valleys. However, just over a third of that sum has been allocated by the UK and Welsh Government to make coal tips safe.
Ann Davies MP submitted a written question to the UK Government in June 2025 regarding the allocated money and received a response stating that the Labour Welsh Government had not asked for the full amount of £600 million.
Delyth Jewell MS has led debates on this issue in the Senedd which led to the Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Act 2025 being passed. This will establish the Disused Tips Authority of Wales to ensure the safety of communities living in the shadow of coal tips, with powers to require landowners to maintain coal tips on their land to make them stable.
However, Plaid Cymru argues that coal tips are an issue that predates devolution, and therefore the full cost should be covered by Westminster. Ms Davies will call on the UK Government to commit to fully fund remediation work to make coal tips safe in Wales.
In her speech during the Westminster Hall debate, Ann Davies MP is expected to say:
“Today’s debate is taking place a day after the 59th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, which involved the collapse of a colliery spoil tip in 1966, killing 28 adults and 116 children, and engulfing Pantglas Junior School.
“This disaster brought about the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act, which came into force as a direct result of Aberfan and did improve coal tip stability and safety.
“However, it did not go far enough. This should have been a moment to address the dangerous legacy of all coal tips once and for all, but the job remains unfinished. Now, due to increasingly violent storms caused by climate change, we have experienced further coal tip slips.
“There was a major landslide above Tylorstown in Rhondda Fach in 2020. Then, in November 2024, in Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, there was another slip caused by heavy rainfall from Storm Bert. This led to a slurry and debris slide that forced the evacuation of homes.
“No family should go to bed fearing the hillside above them — and no community should be left to foot the bill for the negligence of past governments. Plaid Cymru has long warned that the safety of our coal tips is not a matter for tomorrow; it is a matter that needs addressing urgently.”
Ann Davies MP will go on to say:
“This debate is about about justice. It is about dignity. It is about ensuring that the people of Wales are not left to carry the cost—financial or emotional—of decisions made generations ago.
“Let us act now, not when the next storm hits, not when the next hillside slips. Let us act because it is right, because it is just, and because our communities deserve nothing less.
“The Government must revisit its approach to coal tip safety in Wales to fully support the communities who, decades after the last coal was hewn from our valleys, still bear the burden of its legacy.”
ENDS