Taxpayers could bail 
out troubled UK Coal

THE Government said it was “looking at options” regarding UK Coal’s future after reports suggested that ministers were asking a taxpayer-funded body to it bail out.

A spokesman from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) made the comment to the Yorkshire Post after it was reported that part-nationalisation was being considered in a bid to save the country’s biggest coal miner from collapse. An underground blaze at Daw Mill, Warwickshire, in March, is thought to have cost the Doncaster-headquartered company nearly £300m, putting the jobs of 2,000 employees in jeopardy and threatening the pensions of around 10,000 staff, as well as halting its main source of cash flow.

Now, a specialist team at the Department of Business, Innovations and Skills is reported to be leading bail-out discussions across Whitehall. It is thought that ministers are trying to persuade the Coal Authority, a taxpayer-funded body backed by the DECC, to help rescue the healthy parts of the business by taking over Daw Mill. The deal would allow the company to maintain operations at its six other surface mines and two deep mines, according to reports.

UK Coal said discussions are ongoing with a wide range of interested parties, including the Government, to find a way forward for the remaining viable mines.