§ Mr. ToddTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list(a) the number of damage notices served under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 and (b) the number of damage notices rejected in each of the last three years. [49262]
§ Mr. BattleFigures for 1997/98 are not yet available. The number of new claims received by the Coal Authority and the coal companies in the period 1994/95–1996/97 was:
- 1996–97: 8,958
- 1995–96: 9,259
- 1994–95: 10,582
The number of claims rejected was:
- 1996–97: 2,872
- 1995–96: 3,797
- 1994–95: 3,915
Source:The Coal Authority's Annual Reports to the President of the Board of Trade on the administration of coal-mining subsidence damage claims, 1994/95–1996/97.
§ Mr. GroganTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many claimants have pursued cases of coal mining subsidence damage through the general arbitration scheme in each year since its inception; and what was the amount of awards made to successful claimants in each year.[49102]
§ Mr. BattleThe Annual Report of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators lists the number of cases registered under the Householders' Arbitration Scheme and the General Arbitration Scheme as 71 in 1993, 97 in 1994, 130 in 1995, 156 in 1996, and 122 in 1997.
The Chartered Institute does not separately publish references registered under the two Schemes. However, it advises that, from March 1997 to 3 July 1998, ten cases were registered under the General Scheme, and 155 under the Householders' Scheme.
The arbitration procedure is private between the parties, and the content of any Award is known only to the Arbitrator and the two parties concerned.