Output per Man-year

HC Deb 28 April 1958 vol 587 c4

9. Captain Pilkington

asked the Paymaster-General how the production of deep-mined coal per man-year in 1957 compared with that in 1947 and 1937.

Sir I. Horobin

Adjusted as far as possible to a comparable basis, but making no allowance for the differing length of annual holidays, output per man-year in 1937 was 310 tons; in 1947, 264 tons, and in 1957, 296 tons.

Captain Pilkington

Will my hon. Friend explain why there has been this falling off since the years before the war, in view of the great advance in mechanisation and in spite of the greater difficulty in getting coal? Is it because of nationalisation?

Sir I. Horobin

I cannot go very far into that very complicated subject, in answer to a supplementary question, without misleading the House, but I can say that the fall between 1937 and 1947 was very roughly due, in equal part, to lower output per man-shift and a reduction in the number of shifts worked. The subsequent increase from 1947 to 1957 was due almost entirely to increased output per man-shift.