Coalfields Inquiry
About the Inquiry
In November 2022, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coalfield Communities launched an inquiry to identify the Next Steps in Levelling Up the Former Coalfields.
The call for evidence consisted of 14 questions to which coalfield stakeholders were invited to make written submissions. The responses formed the basis for the APPG's report on the Next Steps in Levelling Up the Former Coalfields. To find out more about the inquiry report and its recommendations, click here.
The group would like to thank all those who contributed to the report.
Download Inquiry Documents
Levelling Up the Coalfields - explanatory note.pdfExplanatory Note
A short note on the process for conducting the inquiry.
Levelling Up the Coalfields - written submission form.docxInquiry Questions
Download the written evidence submission form.
Inquiry Questions
Most former coalfields still lag behind on a range of social and economic indicators. What do you consider to be the most significant problems?
Have the job losses from the coal industry now been fully replaced by new jobs in other sectors?
Are the new jobs of an adequate standard in terms of pay, conditions and opportunities?
Has the environmental legacy of the coal industry – spoil heaps, dereliction, pollution – finally been rectified, or are there still outstanding problems?
Is the physical infrastructure for local economic growth now in place, or are there important gaps that still need to be plugged?
Is a reliance on job growth and services in neighbouring cities a viable way forward?
Is the private sector willing to invest in industrial and commercial floorspace without support from the public sector?
Former miners are a dwindling group, but are their distinctive needs (including health) being adequately met?
Are younger people in the community able to access the training and education they need?
Is there a distinctive role for the former coalfields in the development of the ‘green’ agenda?
Do coalfield local authorities have the powers and funding they need to support local communities?
Has Levelling Up funding from the UK government properly targeted the needs of the former coalfields?
What should be the 21st century role for the physical and institutional structures – welfares, institutes, playing fields etc. – once linked to the coal industry?
How might identity, pride and heritage in coalfield communities be best maintained in the future?