TIPPING RULES

HC Deb 21 January 1969 vol 776 cc413-5

Mr. Crouch

I beg to move Amendment No. 4, in page 5, line 25, at end insert— (6) Regulations shall pay attention to care and consolidation of the tip during its active life. In Committee the Minister referred to Part I and its first sentence, in Clause 1(1): Every tip to which this Part of this Act applies shall be made and kept secure. The object of Clause 5, as I see it, is to add to that general and good intention. In moving the Amendment I seek to tell the Minister that we do not feel that there is sufficient instruction in this Clause about the maintenance and security of the tip during its active life. We feel that it is necessary and would be better to have an addition to this part of the Clause about care and consolidation of the tip during its active life.

The whole tenor of the Aberfan Tribunal Export was that insufficient instructions were left on the Statute Book to remind managers and owners of pits about the need for protection of tips. A great deal of legislation exists for the protection of people working underground in mines, but very little exists for the protection of people from the danger that could arise from movement or "slide" of tips—and Aberfan has shown that such danger exists. Luckily such occurrences have been few and far between, but we know that they can be very tragic once they occur. Slides have occurred in the past with no damage to life or limb, and it is because of that that we have not had legislation before now.

The Clause would be improved and the whole Bill would be better constructed if we made sure that there was a provision for safeguarding the tip during its active life. Such safeguarding of care and consolidation is a very necessary part of legislation, and it would be a very necessary reminder. It is not enough for the tipping rules under Clause 5(1) to say that the owner of the quarry shall make rules. It is not sufficient to provide, as is provided in subsection (2): Tipping rules shall comply with such requirements with respect to the form thereof … It is not sufficient to provide, as is provided in subsection (3): If, with respect to any tipping rules for the time being in force, an inspector is of opinion that the rules require modification in any particular, he may serve on the manager of the mine concerned … a notice … An additional requirement of care and consolidation is necessary.

In Committee the Minister was very sympathetic to our case. I suspect that in the intervening period he will have been advised by his Department not to accept the Amendment. I should be sorry if he has been so guided by his advisers. In Committee he said many things to indicate that he wanted to see such requirements written into the regulations. I hope that the Parliamentary Secretary will bear in mind these words of the Minister's: I give an assurance that we shall try to deal with care and consolidation during the active life of the tip through regulations."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, Standing Committee B, 19th November, 1968; c. 33–4.] We believe that something more than regulations is necessary. In view of the disasters which have occurred, the Bill should be tightened by the addition of this requirement.

Mr. Freeson

I am a little baffled by the way the Amendment is worded, although I recognise the hon. Gentleman's intention. He ended, as I understood him, by saying that it was not necessary to deal with the matter by way of regulations. The Amendment refers to regulations paying attention to care and consolidation, not to tipping rules. I do not want to draw too fine a point, because there are other aspects of the wording which read a little curiously.

The Amendment would be particularly inappropriate in this Clause, which deals with tipping rules and not the regulations which will generally govern the tipping rules. Tipping regulations will not be, and should not be, written in detail, because conditions will vary from locality to locality. What is important is that managers of mines and quarries shall so make their rules as not in any way to conflict with the regulations which will be drafted.

Putting aside my curiosity about the wording, the Amendment is not necessary, because the regulations will be made by the Minister under Clause 1, which will cover provision for the security of tips. Part I could not operate effectively, nor could the Inspectorate enforce the provisions of the Bill adequately, unless Regulations were made covering these matters. Their exact form will require careful study. I repeat that the regulations will be drafted after the fullest consultation with the Tip Safety Advisory Committee and on the basis of the information and views which the Committee expresses to the Minister. They will not specify the tipping rules in detail because of the inevitable variation, but the Bill requires that the tipping rules shall not conflict with what is set down in the regulations ultimately. The intention is agreed, but the wording is curious. In any case, the Amendment is not necessary and I hope that it will not be pressed.

Amendment negatived.