FOI Class 1 Contents:
Roles and responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities of the Coal Authority are set out in the Coal Industry Act 1994 .
The Coal AuthorityManagement Statement and Financial Memorandum (March 2004) sets out the broad framework within which the Authority operates. The document was drawn up by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change ) and is based on a model prepared by HM Treasury.
The Coal AuthorityScheme of Delegation approved by the Authority Board as Amended and Effective from 19th January 2010, sets out the powers of the Authority which are delegated to the Chief Executive and other Executive Directors.
back to top
Operational departments
Public Safety and Subsidence provides an emergency response service to incidents which pose a risk to the safety of the public that are associated with former coal mining operations and will repair damage that is attributable to coal mine workingswithin the ownership of the Authority. It also administers claims for coal mining subsidence damage from property owners, throughout the coalfield areas of Britain, where the Authority is the ’responsible person’. As property owner, it operates a management programme for the 41 spoil tips around the country that fall within its ownership. The Public Safety and Subsidence team also administers the Authority's inspection programme for the 170,000 recorded coal mine entries across the UK.
Planning and Local Authority Liaison acts as the primary point of contact between the Authority and local authorities on all matters relating to the Authority’s business and interests, to ensure that full consideration is given to the safe, sustainable development with regard to the risks from the legacy of coal mining and that due regard is given to the future exploitation of coal reserves. It is collaborating with local authorities and other organisations on the implications and management of the Authority's disclosure programme.
The Minewater department deals with the legacy of recovering water levels within abandoned coal mines, preventing new minewater outbreaks, remediating existing polluting discharges and is responsible for the minewater treatment scheme programme to both. See the Environmental Projects section of our website which gives information about the process of treating minewater and some of our treatment sites.
Licensing and Permissions are responsible for considering applications for, and where appropriate, granting licences and other agreements for coal mining and associated activities within 5 weeks of receipt of a complete application.
Property Search Service (Information Retail) provides a property-specific coal mining and brine subsidence search service for property transactions in Britain which brings together the Coal Authority's information on underground and surface coal mining activity together with subsidence information from the Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board. The Ground Stability Report provides information on natural subsidence hazards as well including swell-shrink clays, landslide activity, soluble rocks, compressible and collapsible ground and running sand. They also provide Enviro All-in-One, a uniquely comprehensive coal mining and specialist environmental screening report which covers coal mining, brine subsidence, natural subsidence hazards, historical land use, flood risk, and risk from contaminated land, all presented together in one document. Order a report or get further information about the types of report available from our commercial website: www.groundstability.com
Information Retailmaintains and ensures the integrity of coal mining and mining related information. It ensures that information provided to third parties is of an adequate standard whilst responding to issues related to the provision of information.
Mining Records provides on site access to coal mining information held by the Coal Authority at its Mansfield office. It also provides paper and electronic copies of this information to stakeholders in response to written requests.
TheProperty department provides estate management services including the disposal of surplus property and the acquisition of land for operational sites related to the treatment of minewater.
back to top
Organisations with which the Coal Authority works in partnership
Health and Safety Executive:
The Authority has two memoranda of agreement with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Thefirst Memorandum of Agreement sets out the arrangements agreed for the holding of coal abandonment plans and other information by the Authority on behalf of HSE and making the information available. The second Memorandum of Agreement made under s.4 of the Coal Industry Act 1994 sets out the means of securing co-operation between both parties and the exchange of information.
Environment Agencies:
The Authority has entered into two Memoranda of Understanding with the Environment Agency (EA) and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) which are the responsible regulatory bodies and prioritise the existing discharges from abandoned coal mines.
The Authority has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Korea Mine Reclamation Corporation in the Republic of Korea. The two organisations have very similar areas of responsibility in respect of past mining legacies. The MOU was entered into with the intention of pooling knowledge and collaborative research projects.
To assist the UK to address the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive, DEFRA commissioned the Coal Authority, Newcastle University and Atkins Limited to undertake a study in England and Wales to quantify the scale of water pollution from
non-coal mines and to identify and prioritise the sources.
The study commenced in April 2007 and finished at the end of March 2009 and was called the "Abandoned non-coal mines - Identification and Prioritisation Project" .
It produced a series of reports and a comprehensive database that quantified the scale of non-coal abandoned mine water pollution in England & Wales and provided a list of sites, prioritised in terms of the need for remediation or further investigation. It was intended that the results of this investigation would be incorporated within the River Basin management plans, for the Water Framework Directive.
Final Project Reports are awaiting formal clearance from DEFRA before being published by the Environment Agency.
The project was primarily funded by Defra with contributions from Environment Agency Wales, and the Department of Communities and Local Government.
It was the Coal Mines prioritised list that has enabled the Coal Authority to develop a rolling programme of targeted, cost-effective, remediation initiatives. The prioritised list developed as part of this project may well offer similar benefits, particularly as programmes of measures under the WFD come into effect.
Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board and the British Geological Survey:
Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board Damage from brine subsidence in Cheshire and south-west Manchester is the responsibility of the Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board. The subsidence effects are broadly similar to that of coal mining and the Brine Board deal with a number of new claims each year.
Following discussion and formal agreement with the Law Society, the CON29M mining search produced by the Authority now includes additional questions about compensation claims for subsidence damage made to and dealt with by the Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board.
British Geological Survey (BGS) The BGS is the source of natural non-mining subsidence hazard information and is the Authority’s key collaborator in the development of the Ground Stability Report.
The Coal Authority is a member of the Intra-Governmental Group for Geographic Information (IGGI) therefore has implemented the Geographic Information Data Charter Statement
Coal Mining Library:
The Coal Authority has facilitated the incorporation of the British Coal Utilisation Research Association Limited (BCURA) and British Coal Corporation Coal Research Establishment (CRE) libraries into the North East Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (NEIMME) Nicholas Wood Library at Neville Hall, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE. This will ensure that this unique collection of books, transactions, papers, periodicals and journals about coal and coal utilisation will be available for future generations to access both electronically and by visiting the library.
back to top
Senior staff and management board members
back to top
Location and contact details