Open-cast Coal Sites (Restoration) — House of Commons, 2015-01-29
Topic: Energy
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I join others in congratulating the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon) on bringing this debate to the Floor of the House and opening it so clearly and strongly. I agree with the shadow Front-Bench spokesman, the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright,) that there is broad consensus across the House on the scale of the challenge, which I acknowledge and which was described by the hon. Members for Bridgend and for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Sandra Osborne), and by the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards) in strong and lyrical terms. I acknowledge the scale of the difficulties and I look forward to working with Members on all sides to try to resolve them There is also consensus that the operation of open-cast mining involves a resource that can be brought out from under the ground, and therefore that the burden of restoration should fall not on the taxpayer but rather on those who benefited from the excavation and sale of the resource. In the time available I hope to address as many of the questions that were raised as possible Several hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Bridgend, commented on the time taken for a planning application to be approved, the different and complicated mechanisms needed, and the number of authorities involved. I acknowledge that and the further complication that the devolution settlement leaves responsibilities both for the UK Government, which are mostly executed through the Coal Authority, and for devolved Administrations. It is therefore important that the devolved Administrations are part of the solution. The hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr described clearly the responsibilities of the Welsh Government. I spoke to Fergus Ewing, the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism in the Scottish Government, about the matter yesterday in advance of the debate today. Although it is disappointing to see that no SNP Members are in the Chamber, I made the Scottish Government aware of their responsibilities in relation to the difficulties that are most apparent in the south of Scotland The Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, the hon. Member for North East Derbyshire (Natascha Engel), asked what we can do to ensure that those who do not fulfil their obligations in a reasonable way can be debarred from future operations. I thought that was a good suggestion and I will explore the possibility of the Coal Authority having a role in vetting open-cast licence applications to examine past conduct. I cannot give the hon. Lady the full commitment on policy today, not least because this is the first time the possibility has been raised with me directly, but it is a sensible proposition which I will take away, and I will get back to her on that In a debate largely driven by consensus, it was good to have the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery), the representative of king coal, in full flow. He demanded that I reach this Dispatch Box and immediately change the tax regime of the United Kingdom to end the carbon price floor. I am sorry to have to disappoint him by saying that that is a matter for the Chancellor in a Budget, so far be it from me to announce it today. The hon. Gentleman will know that from next year we have frozen the carbon price floor and we have taken action to ensure that although we commit to our international obligations on tackling carbon emissions, we also support energy-intensive industries. As he said, carbon capture and storage represents a long-term future for coal consumption in energy production and potentially for UK production of coal The hon. Member for Hartlepool asked about the case for state aid for UK Coal. This debate is about open-cast mining, but of course we have a long and strong tradition of deep mining. We have received an application from UK Coal for state aid from Government. We are currently considering that application, and I do not want to prejudge any decision.