Committee publication · Correspondence · 21 July 2026
Correspondence to the Secretary of State on contaminated land and transparency with the public in Wales, dated 21 July 2026
From: Welsh Affairs Committee
Inquiry: Metal mine pollution in Wales
Summary
The Welsh Affairs Committee writes to the Secretary of State for Wales following a July 2026 evidence session on metal mine contamination, raising concerns about inadequate testing of lead exposure in children, insufficient food produce testing (circa one supermarket shelf's worth annually), poor public transparency on contamination risks, and under-resourced remediation efforts. The committee requests coordinated four-nation testing protocols, standardised food safety thresholds, farmer support mechanisms, and joint Welsh Government communication strategies by 7 September 2026.
Key findings
- No long-term UK-wide coordinated government approach exists to test children for elevated lead levels despite a Leeds pilot programme, despite Samantha Power's assertion that 'you cannot change what you cannot measure'.
- Only approximately one supermarket shelf's worth of food produce is tested annually for contamination across the UK, despite concerns about lead in cows, eggs, and other produce, with limited government support for affected farmers.
- Technical contamination maps exist but fail to translate into accessible risk information for Welsh communities, leaving residents unable to make informed decisions about health mitigation.
- Open spoil tips and former mining sites in Wales lack interpretation panels communicating health and environmental risks; all known contaminated sites should be marked as potentially hazardous.
- Remediation funding and timelines remain inadequate and uncertain; committee urges reliable long-term funding across parliamentary cycles and government liaise with Welsh Government on targeted testing programmes without delay.
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Ruth Jones MP, Stephen Kinnock MP, Samantha Power, Welsh Government, Mining Remediation Authority, Natural Resources Wales, UK Health Security Agency
Notable line
“… the people in affected areas of Wales do not have sufficient support and information to make informed choices to mitigate the risks associated with contaminated land and lead poisoning.”
Key Quotes
“… you cannot "change what you cannot measure"”
“… there is no level of lead which is considered safe”
“We are dismayed that the legacy of metal mine pollution has been left unaddressed for so long.”
“Although we are not prescriptive about who should finance this work, we are aware that some of these areas are devolved.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗