Local Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock MP Sandra Osborne has described the McKinnon Report on Coal Regulation in East Ayrshire as a 'catalogue of failure' She was speaking before East Ayrshire Council was due to hold a Special Meeting on 28 January to discuss the report's findings
She said - 'The report before the Council is a damning report. It uncovers a catalogue of failure - failure to report the facts to Council; failure to oversee what was going on; failure to challenge monitor or properly scrutinise the contracts and the performance of the coal operators This report tells us a lot about what went wrong but we also need to know why it went wrong - why did the Council fail the people of East Ayrshire so spectacularly?
The report found that the failure to appoint independent assessors is 'completely inexplicable' and 'it is difficult to understand or explain the lack of awareness within the senior management of East Ayrshire Council ' about the environmental damage being done.
The warnings of the 2006 independent study of restoration guarantee bonds were neither heeded or acted upon which only rubs salt in the wound.
We will see when the full report is published what it has to say about the conduct of the coal operators in creating 'extensive environmental degradation' contrary to the terms of planning consent and Section 75 agreements.
I have already raised with the Government whether action can be taken against company directors who are deemed to have acted irresponsibly and been told this would be up to KPMG as the liquidators.
I recognise the work the council has been doing since this disaster came to light and that Audit Scotland have said that they are 'taking all appropriate steps to respond to the issues arising from the liquidation of the coal mining operators including the impact on local communities' But they are closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
The focus now is to clear up this mess and I repeat my call for financial assistance from the Scottish and Westminster Governments for what is an environmental disaster. It is not good enough to abandon the people of the coalfield communities because there is no budget line. Funding has been found for other significant damage and it should be found for this too.'
Following on from the recent East Ayrshire Council Special Meeting to consider the McKinnon Report which sets out a catalogue of failings in the monitoring of coal regulation, Sandra Osborne MP, for Ayr Carrick & Cumnock, has decided to pass the report to the Investigation and Enforcement Section of the Insolvency Service.
She said,
'I want them to consider the report with a view to further action given the apparent culpability alleged in the report. This is in line with the advice I have received in a reply from Jo Swinson, Minister for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs, regarding their powers in such matters.'
The McKinnon Report can be found by using this link
https://remote.parliament.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=3wBbPOXBqkO25LYxmONMRazqjLxY8dAIG4jdUV6LB9WzuQ9-PPmo7hHOU-EcdamQord1vtYiGu4.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.east-ayrshire.gov.uk%2fResources%2fPDF%2fC%2fCoal-Independent-Review-of-the-Regulation-of-Opencast-Coal-Operations-in-East-Ayrshire---Redacted-report-by-the-Independent-Review-Team.pdf
She said - 'The report before the Council is a damning report. It uncovers a catalogue of failure - failure to report the facts to Council; failure to oversee what was going on; failure to challenge monitor or properly scrutinise the contracts and the performance of the coal operators This report tells us a lot about what went wrong but we also need to know why it went wrong - why did the Council fail the people of East Ayrshire so spectacularly?
The report found that the failure to appoint independent assessors is 'completely inexplicable' and 'it is difficult to understand or explain the lack of awareness within the senior management of East Ayrshire Council ' about the environmental damage being done.
The warnings of the 2006 independent study of restoration guarantee bonds were neither heeded or acted upon which only rubs salt in the wound.
We will see when the full report is published what it has to say about the conduct of the coal operators in creating 'extensive environmental degradation' contrary to the terms of planning consent and Section 75 agreements.
I have already raised with the Government whether action can be taken against company directors who are deemed to have acted irresponsibly and been told this would be up to KPMG as the liquidators.
I recognise the work the council has been doing since this disaster came to light and that Audit Scotland have said that they are 'taking all appropriate steps to respond to the issues arising from the liquidation of the coal mining operators including the impact on local communities' But they are closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
The focus now is to clear up this mess and I repeat my call for financial assistance from the Scottish and Westminster Governments for what is an environmental disaster. It is not good enough to abandon the people of the coalfield communities because there is no budget line. Funding has been found for other significant damage and it should be found for this too.'
Following on from the recent East Ayrshire Council Special Meeting to consider the McKinnon Report which sets out a catalogue of failings in the monitoring of coal regulation, Sandra Osborne MP, for Ayr Carrick & Cumnock, has decided to pass the report to the Investigation and Enforcement Section of the Insolvency Service.
She said,
'I want them to consider the report with a view to further action given the apparent culpability alleged in the report. This is in line with the advice I have received in a reply from Jo Swinson, Minister for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs, regarding their powers in such matters.'
The McKinnon Report can be found by using this link
https://remote.parliament.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=3wBbPOXBqkO25LYxmONMRazqjLxY8dAIG4jdUV6LB9WzuQ9-PPmo7hHOU-EcdamQord1vtYiGu4.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.east-ayrshire.gov.uk%2fResources%2fPDF%2fC%2fCoal-Independent-Review-of-the-Regulation-of-Opencast-Coal-Operations-in-East-Ayrshire---Redacted-report-by-the-Independent-Review-Team.pdf