36 and 37. Lieut.-Commander Clark Hutchisonasked the Minister of Fuel and Power (1) why, in view of the great public interest in coal production, he has instructed the National Coal Board to discontinue the publication of weekly output statistics;
(2) why he has decided that coal-production figures should henceforth be given on a national instead of a divisional basis.
§ Mr. ShinwellWeekly figures of current coal output are normally given in the 1325 Ministry of Fuel and Power's monthly Press announcement. Provisional estimates of coat output have recently been given at weekly intervals because of the public interest in the effect on output of the five-day week. Provisional estimates of this kind are, however, subject to considerable margins of error, and it is not proposed to continue to publish them regularly. Weekly figures will, however, continue to be given in the monthly Press announcement, both on a national and on a regional basis