Cabinet meeting: 4 July 2022

• Rt. Hon. Mark Drakeford MS
• Rebecca Evans MS
• Vaughan Gething MS
• Lesley Griffiths MS
• Jane Hutt MS
• Julie James MS
• Jeremy Miles MS
• Eluned Morgan MS
• Mick Antoniw MS

• Hannah Blythyn MS
• Dawn Bowden MS
• Julie Morgan MS
• Lynne Neagle MS

Apologies

• Lee Waters MS

Officials

• Andrew Goodall, Permanent Secretary
• Des Clifford, Director Office of the First Minister
• Will Whiteley, Deputy Director Cabinet Division
• Toby Mason, Head of Strategic Communications
• Jane Runeckles, Special Adviser
• Madeleine Brindley, Special Adviser
• Alex Bevan, Special Adviser
• Daniel Butler, Special Adviser
• Ian Butler, Special Adviser
• Kate Edmunds, Special Adviser
• Sara Faye, Special Adviser
• Clare Jenkins, Special Adviser
• Owen John, Special Adviser
• Andrew Johnson, Special Adviser
• Mitch Theaker, Special Adviser
• Tom Woodward, Special Adviser
• Christopher W Morgan, Head of Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
• Damian Roche, Cabinet Secretariat
• Catrin Sully, Cabinet Office
• Tracey Burke, Director General, Climate Change and Rural Affairs
• Jo-Anne Daniels, Director General Education, Social Justice and Welsh Language
• Reg Kilpatrick, Director General, COVID-19 recovery and Local Government
• Judith Paget, Director General Health
• Andrew Slade, Director General, Economy, Treasury and Constitution
• Dianne Dunning, Legal Services
• Andy Fraser, Deputy Director, Flood and Water Division
• Lori Frater, Coal Tip Safety Task Force

1.1 Cymeradwyodd y Cabinet gofnodion 27 Mehefin / Cabinet approved the minutes of 27 June.

2.1 Cabinet considered the contents of the Plenary grid and noted that Stage 3 of the Welsh Tax Acts etc (Power to Modify) (Wales) Bill was scheduled to take place the following day. Ten amendments had been tabled, in 4 groups, and 90-minutes had been allowed for the debates, but it was very possible that the session would finish earlier. On Wednesday, voting time was expected around 6.25pm.

3.1 The Minister for Climate Change introduced the paper, which set out the current position on coal tip safety, the associated work of the Task Force and outlined the next steps for the substantial programme of work. It was now the 3rd year of the Task Force programme. While there had been significant progress there was still much more that needed to be done.

3.2 The paper summarised progress since the update provided to Cabinet in March, and the ongoing work to help mitigate current and future risks.

3.3 The Coal Tip Safety White Paper had been published in May, which outlined proposals for a new statutory regime for managing disused coal tips. This was a significant step forward to delivering the Programme for Government commitment to introduce primary legislation during this Senedd.

3.4 The work of the Law Commission had provided valuable evidence for the White Paper and recent public consultation events had indicated there was unanimous support for the proposals.

3.5 In February, the Coal Authority had completed the 3rd round of on-the-ground inspections and the authority was undertaking a 4th round on the 86 highest rated tips as well as trialling the government’s proposals to introduce hazard assessments. This would provide greater clarity on the specific hazards.

3.6 The new management regime proposed in the white paper would ensure the tips were maintained and provide an opportunity to repurpose them into something positive for the respective communities.

3.7 Cabinet welcomed the latest progress report.