§ 33. Mr. Nabarroasked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will make a statement on the current coal position, with special reference to loss of production through strikes, on distributed and undistributed stocks compared with an equivalent date last year, and on house coal prospects for next winter.
§ 36. Mr. Palmerasked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will state the effect of the recent railway strike upon the production, the export and the import of coal.
§ 29. Sir R. Robinsonasked the Minister of Fuel and Power what progress has been made in stockpiling coal near the pit-heads during the current emergency.
§ Mr. Geoffrey LloydAs a result of the rail strike there was little loss of production, little reduction of imports though exports were considerably curtailed, and about one million tons of coal were stockpiled on the ground near the pits. Through disputes at the mines, however, 1.9 million tons have so far been lost this year. Total distributed and undistributed stocks at 4th June, the latest date for which figures are available, were 13.3 million tons against 15.2 million tons at the corresponding date last year. All possible steps are being taken to build up adequate supplies for next winter, but it is too early to make any statement on the prospects for any one type of consumer.
§ Mr. NabarroIn view of the fact that all these figures point to an extremely difficult position developing, will my right hon. Friend say whether it is not possible to give consumers of all classes a very much greater incentive to stock coal in the summer, especially in view of the near-breakdown of household supplies last winter, largely due to the lack of adequate stocking during the summer months?
§ Mr. LloydI am all in favour of summer stocking, but I do not think it would be practicable to change the summer price scheme at the moment. As a matter of fact, the difficulties last winter arose partly because coal which was being stocked in the summer for use during the winter was, in fact, used during the summer because it was too much like the winter.
§ Mr. P. Noel-BakerIn view of the million tons of coal which are wasted every year, will the Minister take effective action to secure economy by industry and carry out some of the measures recommended by the Ridley Committee?
§ Mr. LloydYes, Sir. A great deal of progress is being made in that direction by the National Industrial Fuel Efficiency Service, which is making very good progress.