HC Deb 04 July 1923 vol 166 c440
69. Mr. LUNN

asked the Secretary for Mines the total coal output for the County of Yorkshire for the year ending 31st March, 1923; what was the total amount paid in royalties; and what was the amount of such royalties paid, if any, towards the burden of local rates in the districts from which such royalties were derived?

The SECRETARY for MINES (Lieut.-Colonel Lane-Fox)

The total output of saleable coal in Yorkshire during the year ended 31st March, 1923, was 43,266,000 tons. I cannot say what was the amount paid in royalties in Yorkshire alone; in the eastern district, comprising Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Cannock Chase and Warwickshire, with a total output of 85,154,000 tons, they amounted to £1,505,000. Royalties are not assessable to local rates in these districts.

Mr. LUNN

Is the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that in the King's Speech of 1921 there was a paragraph that the Government intended to nationalise the minerals, and does this present Government intend to introduce a Bill to make the minerals public property?

Lieut.-Colonel LANE-FOX

I know of no such intention on the part of the Government.