§ 42. Mr. HARTSHORNasked the Secretary for Mines what quantity of coal was produced at a profit in the South Wales coalfield during the months of August, September and October, 1925, respectively; and the amount of subsidy paid in respect of that output?
§ The SECRETARY for MINES (Colonel Lane-Fox)As I have already informed the right hon. Gentleman, this information is not available. Nor are there any returns at present in my possession from which it could be collected. The quantity of coal produced at a profit could only be ascertained from the returns made to the accountants, or those made to the Mining Association, and both are so fully occupied in the collection of a mass of statistics for the Royal Commission that I cannot at present ask them to undertake this fresh burden. Later it may be important to have this information, not for purposes of subvention, which it does not affect, but in order to see what the position will be afterwards; and if I decide to ask for it, I will communicate with the right hon. Gentleman.