HC Deb 16 July 1929 vol 230 c213
51. Commander BELLAIRS

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated cost to the country of purchasing the royalties on minerals?

Mr. P. SNOWDEN

I am not in a position to give an estimate at the present time. The Royal Commission on the Coal Industry (1925) estimated on certain assumptions that the purchase price for mineral rights in coal would be about £90,000,000 to £100,000,000, and that, having regard to the rents and royalties receivable, the transaction would probably leave the annual Budget of the State but little affected. Fuller details of the estimate made by the Royal Commission may be found on page 81 of their Report (Command Paper 2600 of 1926) and in appendix No. 39 to that Report.