§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he is yet ready to announce his conclusions on the Report of the Working Group on Mining Subsidence Compensation.
§ Mr. BennThe Group's report proposed a significant improvement in coal mining subsidence compensation. It recommended that compensation should be paid for all physical damage to household goods, furniture, stock in trade, plant and machinery, fixtures and fittings etc., caused by subsidence, subject to reasonable precautions having been taken to avoid damage; that arrangements should be made for the avoidance or alleviation of individual hardship; and that farmers should be compensated for loss of crops so long as that persists and also for stock losses.
I have accepted these recommendations and I am glad to say that the Chairman of the National Coal Board, whom I have consulted, has informed me that he is prepared to implement them on a voluntary basis. He is making a public announcement to that effect today specifying in detail the new arrangements under which the Board will in future operate. I believe this should go a long way to satisfy those who have felt the existing provisions were inadequate.
I have accepted the Working Group's recommendation that the Board should not be liable for possible loss of profits by industrial or commercial undertakings so as not to weaken the incentive which so far seems to have helped keep this from becoming a serious problem. However, I welcome the Working Group's recommendation which has been accepted by the Board that it should take steps to avoid individual hardship where small businesses are affected by subsidence.
The Working Group considered the question of structural precautions to lessen the risk of damage to new buildings. It reached the conclusion that it would not be possible to oblige the Board to specify and pay for such precautions and I agree with this. However, the Board has indicated that where there would be a high risk of damage to new 498W buildings from subsidence resulting from its operations, it will consider requiring and paying for special structural precautions at the construction stage where there was an overall economic case that this should be done.