§ 14. Mr. Nabarroasked the Minister of Power whether he will state the method of deficit financing to be employed by the National Coal Board in respect of losses; and when he proposes to lay last year's accounts of the Board before Parliament, having regard to the elapsing of fifteen weeks since the conclusion of the chargeable accounting period concerned.
§ Mr. WoodThe accumulated losses are financed by the Board from its own 868 resources. The Board's Accounts for 1959 will be laid before Parliament and published about 1st June.
§ Mr. NabarroCan my right hon. Friend say what is his long-term policy on the substantial losses forward of the National Coal Board, which he himself estimated at £50 million on 31st December last? Having regard to the precedent now created by transferring the loss forward on the railways this year to above-the-line financing in the Budget, which is a direct subsidy, can my right hon. Friend say whether he proposes to adopt that precedent and apply it to the National Coal Board, so that we have a subsidy for coal stocks as well as the railways? Is that his intention?
§ Mr. WoodMy hon. Friend asked me what the position is at the moment, how the accumulated losses are financed. I have told him that they are financed by the National Coal Board's internal resources. That is the position at the moment. I would prefer not to speculate about the future, because the future, as always, is uncertain.
Mr. LeeDoes not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the assets of the Board are such that there is no need to think in terms of the same kind of financing which is now necessary within the transport system?
§ Mr. WoodIt is certainly true, as I have said, that the accumulated losses of the Board are, in my opinion, adequately covered at present by the internal resources of the Board.