Disused Mineshafts (Hansard, 15 February 2001)

§ Mr. Bruce George
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department has received the report commissioned from Heriot-Watt University into the relationship between house values and mineshafts in Stoke. [149446]

§ Mr. Hain
My Department has received a near-final draft of the report by Heriot-Watt University, but there remain a few points which require clarification.

§ Mr. Bruce George
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the recommendations made by the Trade and Industry Committee in its Seventh report of Session 1995–96(a) have been implemented and (b) are being implemented. [149445]

§ Mr. Hain
Recommendations 1, 2, 9, 11 and 12 of the Committee's report have been implemented. I am awaiting the outcome of the research by Heriot-Watt University on the relationship between former coal mineshafts and property values in Stoke-on-Trent before deciding whether to reconsider the remaining recommendations rejected by the previous Government, along with recommendation 8, which is dependent on the way in which the other recommendations are acted upon.

§ Mr. Bruce George
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to compensate home owners whose properties are unsaleable or have suffered undue financial loss in value due to their proximity to disused mineshafts. [149510]

§ Mr. Hain
Where damage has been caused to property by disused coal mineshafts, home owners are entitled to have the damage made good, at no cost to themselves or their insurers, under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991. I intend to consider whether there are any steps which the Government might be able to take to deal with other forms of loss connected with disused mineshafts in 281W the light of the final report from Heriot-Watt University on the relationship between coal mineshafts and property values in Stoke-on-Trent.

§ Mr. Stevenson
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he intends to publish and respond to the report of the inquiry commissioned by his Department from. Edinburgh University into housing blight due to abandoned mineshafts. [149639]

§ Mr. Hain
My Department has received a near-final draft of the report from Heriot-Watt University on the relationship between former coal mineshafts and property values in Stoke-on-Trent, but there remain a few points which require clarification. I intend to publish and respond to the final report when I have had an opportunity to consider its findings.