2 THE REGENERATION OF THE COALFIELD
AREAS
3. The coalfields are a substantial part of the
UK covering an area with a population of more than 5 million.
The closure of the mines happened very quickly. With the closure
of 150 collieries between 1985 and 1997 about 250,000 jobs were
lost. This not only brought the loss of the main source of employment
in many of the coalfield villages and towns, but also the loss
of the social facilities provided by the National Coal Board and
the trade unions. The Government set up the Coalfields Task Force
in 1997 in response to the high level of social and economic needs
of the coalfield communities across the North East, North West,
Yorkshire and Humberside, the Midlands and parts of the South
East. The Task Force's subsequent report in 1998 said:
"As we have toured the country, we have
been left in no doubt about the scale of deprivation, and decline.
But what makes the coalfields special is the context in which
this decline has taken place. They have a unique combination of
concentrated joblessness, physical isolation, poor infrastructure
and severe health problems. The contraction of the coal industry
has been so rapid that mainstream government programmes have failed
to readjust to offer an adequate level of support."[1]
The report proposed a wide range of initiatives including:
- tax incentives to promote the
reuse of sites - possibly by establishing new enterprise zones;
- the provision by the Regional Development Agencies
and English Partnerships of serviced business space for local
businesses;
- support for new businesses through an enterprise
fund;
- an increase in EP's coalfields programme;
- a more systematic environmental programme;
- priority for new rail, bus and road improvement
to open up sites;
- increased funding for community projects;
- funding for 8-10 coalfield neighbourhood action
areas to address the worst affected former Coal Board estates;
- better integration of mainstream public services;
- Government indices used for the distribution
of public funds should be altered to reflect coalfields communities
needs;
- DFEE (now the DFES) should develop a strategy
to raise standards and educational attainment in schools;
- more training to help people get jobs;
- extend the availability of EU Structural Funds;
- the new Assisted Areas map should give high priority
to coalfield areas.
The majority of these recommendations were accepted
by the Government. There have been regular updates on implementation,
and the ODPM submission to this inquiry sought to demonstrate
that it has acted on most of the recommendations.
4. Evidence to this inquiry has highlighted significant
progress in addressing the needs of the coalfields areas since
the 1998 Task Force report. Progress has been concentrated in
a programme of remediating and reclaiming sites led by English
Partnerships but there are still major problems in terms of :
- promoting economic development,
- addressing a skills deficit,
- improving educational attainment,
- dealing with the legacies of ill health, both
physical and psychological,
- addressing the problems of areas with poor quality
and empty housing and
- tackling problems of social exclusion, community
and family breakdown and loss of individual esteem and identity.
5. The submission from South Yorkshire Coalfield
Partnership Board pointed out:
"Most of the major sites in South Yorkshire
have now been reclaimed. This has created sites for employment
opportunities and has transformed the local environment."[2]
However as the submission goes on to say:
"Many of the economic goals cannot be achieved
without attention to social issues. Poor health, substandard housing
and low levels of educational attainment have direct implications
for the quality of the workforce."[3]
There has been considerable progress in tackling
the environmental legacy from the coalfields but tackling social
and economic regeneration is lagging far behind. This now requires
much greater emphasis in Government programmes.
1 Making the Difference: A New start for England's
Coalfield Communities, Coalfields Task Force Report, June 1998
p7 para 1.2 Back
2
COA 08 Back
3
COA 08 Back
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