§ 50. Mr. LEEasked the Secretary for Mines if he can give the percentage of collieries in the various districts of the British coalfields where coal-cutting and conveying machinery is in use at the coal face, giving the output per man per shift in comparison with the output previous to the introduction of such machinery?
§ The SECRETARY for MINES (Commodore Douglas King)As the reply involves a number of figures, I will, with
District. | Number of Collieries at work in 1927. | Percentage of Collieries using Coal Cutting Machines and/or Conveyors at the coal face. | |
Per cent. | |||
1. | Northumberland | 123 | 41 |
2. | Durham | 277 | 38 |
3. | Cumberland and Westmorland | 35 | 29 |
4. | Lancashire and Cheshire | 234 | 41 |
5. | Yorkshire, South | 131 | 40 |
6. | Yorkshire, West | 164 | 37 |
7. | Nottinghamshire | 46 | 67 |
8. | Derbyshire, North | 125 | 30 |
9. | Derbyshire, South | 15 | 53 |
10. | Staffordshire, North | 93 | 39 |
11. | Cannock Chase | 47 | 45 |
12. | South Staffs and Worcester | 116 | 2 |
13. | Leicestershire | 17 | 65 |
14. | Warwickshire | 24 | 54 |
15. | Shropshire | 53 | 6 |
16. | Forest of Dean | 57 | 7 |
17. | Somerset | 18 | 6 |
18. | Bristol | 3 | 33 |
19. | Kent | 4 | 50 |
20. | South Wales and Monmouth | 638 | 24 |
21. | North Wales | 37 | 41 |
22. | Fife and Clackmannan | 68 | 76 |
23. | Lothians (Mid and East) | 31 | 68 |
24. | Lanarkshire, Linlithgow, Stirling, Renfrew and Dumbarton. | 284 | 58 |
25. | Ayrshire, Dumfries and Argyll | 79 | 42 |
Total | 2,719 | 36 |
§ I regret that as the machinery has been introduced very gradually over a long period, it is not possible to fix a basic date which would enable me to answer the last part of the question.