Next Steps in
Levelling Up the Former Coalfields

The Purpose of the Inquiry

The APPG launched its Inquiry into Next Steps in Levelling Up the Former Coalfields in November 2022 with the aim of identifying a contemporary agenda for the regeneration of the former coalfields in England, Scotland and Wales.

June 2023 marks twenty-five years since the UK Government published its Coalfields Task Force Report , which with the active support of past and present members of the APPG went on to shape many of the subsequent interventions to support mining communities.  Much has changed since then, in the former coalfields and more generally in the national economy.  But as the 2019 State of the Coalfields report documented only too clearly, the loss of coalmining jobs still casts a long shadow.

The APPG therefore felt it was time to take a fresh look at the needs of the former mining communities and to try to steer policies to improve the lives of residents, these days only a minority of whom once worked in the coal industry.  The interventions so clearly needed twenty-five years ago are not necessarily those needed today.

Next Steps in Levelling Up the Former Coalfields.pdf

Inquiry Report

Download the full report of the APPG on Coalfield Communities' inquiry.

Press release - APPG Coalfield Communities inquiry.pdf

Press Release

View the press release announcing the launch of the report.

This is not an official publication of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. It has not been approved by either House or its committees. All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal groups of Members of both Houses with a common interest in particular issues. The views expressed in this report are those of the group.

Submissions of Evidence

The APPG received over 70 submissions, including from local councils, the Scottish and Welsh Governments, the business sector, voluntary organisations, campaign groups and a number of individuals.  A full list of the organisations and individuals submitting evidence is included in the appendix.

The Group is immensely grateful to those who took the time to respond.


Inquiry Recommendations