§ 46. Mr. Nealasked the Paymaster-General what general directions he has given to the National Coal Board regarding the conditions which will determine the closing of pits during 1960.
§ Sir I. HorobinNone, Sir.
§ Mr. NealCan we assume from that Answer that no pits will be closed during 1960? If not, can the Parliamentary Secretary tell us by what criteria decisions are made? Are they made on profits per ton, the quality of the coal, or the state of the market?
§ Sir I. HorobinThe hon. Member must not read into my Answer anything 20 of the sort. Whether or not further economic closures will take place is one of the main questions which will have to be decided when the Coal Board's new proposals reach the Ministry. The considerations mentioned by the hon. Member are certainly among those which the Coal Board and the Ministry—and. I hope, the country—will have to take into account.
§ Mr. A. RobertsIs it not a fact that the Ministry is already aware of the pits which are likely to close down in 1960?
§ Sir I. HorobinAs yet we have had no proposals from the Coal Board relating to particular pits.
§ Mr. NealHow long must we await the proposals which the Parliamentary Secretary has told us are coming from the Coal Board?
§ Sir I. HorobinAs yet we have had no information as to exactly when the Coal Board will be in a position to give us its proposals.
§ Mr. RobensIf the Minister has had no information, does he know that it is common knowledge in the industry that a large number of pits will be closed during 1960? To what extent are the Government now prepared to increase the amount by which they undertook to stock coal—that is, the 3 million tons—if there is a greater surplus this year, as present figures seem to indicate?
§ Sir I. HorobinThe right hon. Gentleman must not ask me to confirm any alleged leak which he says has taken place from the Coal Board.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsDo I gather that the Minister thinks it is now inevitable that there will be some pit closures in 1960? Is his Ministry consulting the President of the Board of Trade to ensure that men who may be rendered redundant—who have rendered great service to this country in war and peace, and who gave up Saturday work at the request of the Government and the country, and deserve the best of it—will be provided with alternative employment? Does he say that his Ministry is not in consultation with the President of the Board of Trade with a view to making sure that if there is no economic future for certain 21 pits alternative employment will be provided in the communities built up by the miners in those pits over the years?
§ Sir I. HorobinI do not see how that speech arises out of the Question. I was asked about general directions having been given to the National Coal Board. I was not asked about consultations, or anything else.
§ Mr. GriffithsDo we understand that when the stage is reached for the Coal Board to announce that because of the circumstances described this afternoon further closures are inevitable, the Ministry will not immediately take up with other Departments the question of alternative employment?
§ Sir I. HorobinIf, after the Coal Board makes suggestions and they have been approved by the Ministry in due course, there are further closures, what has happened in the past will happen again and, I hope, with the same resounding success which has already met the Coal Board's efforts to minimise unemployment.
§ Mr. GowerIs it not a fact that the Chairman of the Coal Board, with his great experience in this industry, is not the sort of man to make any proposal for the closure of a pit without the most careful consideration of human as well as other factors?
§ Sir I. HorobinPrecisely.