New seam in coal struggle

Even with the opinion polls narrowing, the party remains confident they will win a string of key marginal seats in the region, thanks largely to David Cameron's ability to decontaminate the Tory brand.

But, nearly 30 years after Margaret Thatcher began overseeing the closure of most of the country's mines, the Tories still have no expectation of making a breakthrough in South Yorkshire's former pit communities.

The statistics included in today's Public Accounts Committee report paint a stark picture – more than 190,000 people in this country lost their jobs in coal mining between 1981 and 2004.

The social and economic impact on the communities affected was devastating, and it is still being felt today. Given they had to wait until 1997 – when the Government set up the Coalfields Task Force – for assistance from Whitehall, it is unsurprising that so many people are not yet ready to forgive or forget.

Today's report focuses on what happened next – and the effectiveness of

the public money that has been poured into these areas,

It would be churlish to deny the great strides that have been made bringing back into use former pits, making them physically more attractive and a suitable location for business parks, housing developments or welcome green space.

One of the recurring flaws of New Labour has been the willingness of Ministers to boast of spending huge amounts of money and consider that the job has been done, without considering the effectiveness of their policies.

So, while the report may be guilty of glossing over some of the achievements, it is right to question whether taxpayers received a good deal. The fact that the Government cannot provide convincing answers about the impact of some of the spending rightly raises questions about the operation of the schemes.

Once the coalfield regeneration schemes are completed, some 1.1bn will have been spent. In the present climate, it is more important than ever to make sure every pound is well spent. The challenge for the Tories is to achieve this – while not neglecting those areas that will still require state intervention.