HC Deb 08 May 1972 vol 836 cc887-8
13. Mr. Adam Butler

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to announce the results of his special review into compensation for the victims of mining subsidence damage: and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Tom Boardman

Much work remains to be done before any conclusion can be announced.

Mr. Butler

The news that the special review is in hand will be welcomed by thousands of families in my constituency and other mining areas, but will my hon. Friend bear in mind that the provisions of the 1957 Act do not allow full compensation for the financial costs involved, let alone the great physical and mental suffering? Will he give an assurance that, when the review is complete, he will introduce legislation as soon as possible to allow significantly greater compensation than that provided for under the 1957 Act?

Mr. Boardman

I am well aware of my hon. Friend's deep interest in this matter both in his constituency and generally. Legislation will be introduced if it should prove necessary, but my hon. Friend will appreciate that the issues are complex and that it will take time for the review to be completed. Consultations are being held with local authority associations and others.

Mr. Joel Barnett

Will the Minister take it that in the Whitefield area of Lancashire a serious situation has arisen, in that neighbours of mine tried to sell their house but found that the intended purchaser could not obtain a mortgage because of the danger of subsidence, and all they could elicit from the National Coal Board was an assurance that it would meet its obligations? This is wholly unsatisfactory, since the vendors simply could not sell their house. Will the hon. Gentleman, therefore, make the strongest possible representations to the National Coal Board to ensure that it fulfils its obligations to the letter of the law?

Mr. Boardman

That point is one of the matters which will be considered in the review. In advance of the review, I cannot say what changes, if any, will be made.

Mr. J. T. Price

Everyone with experience of the problem of mining subsidence agrees that the present situation is not entirely satisfactory, but will the hon. Gentleman take it that, to my knowledge, the 1957 Act has been administered in a most liberal way by the National Coal Board, and that in many cases people who have suffered damage from old mining operations, sometimes going back as far as 100 years, have received compensation from the Board out of its own resources for troubles left behind by the old coal owners who never paid a penny for anything?

Mr. Boardman

I am sure that those remarks will be noted by the National Coal Board