HC Deb 13 December 1982 vol 34 cc15-6
21. Mr. Dormand

asked the Secretary of State for Energy when he next proposes to meet the chairman of the National Coal Board to discuss productivity in the industry.

23. Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what subjects he expects to discuss at his next meeting with representatives of the National Coal Board.

Mr. John Moore

My right hon. Friend and I meet the chairman of the National Coal Board regularly and discuss all aspects of the board's business, including productivity.

Mr. Dormand

Does the Minister agree that the miners have met every productivity target that they have been asked to meet since "Plan for Coal"? What does the Minister have to say about the disgraceful remarks made by the director of the CBI about the miners affecting the economy so badly?

Mr. Moore

I do not think that anyone on the Government side of the House has a more consistent record than I in arguing for the mining industry, when that is merited. We all wish to argue on the basis of fact. Until the last two and half years the productivity increments expected under "Plan for Coal" had not occurred. That is fact. We all welcome the current increased productivity. Equally, we all understand the difficulties through which the coal industry is passing. None of us wishes to underestimate those difficulties or to give an incorrect slant to the facts, as some outside the House might.

Mr. Canavan

Will the Minister warn the NCB that it would be a recipe for all-out industrial action if the NCB tried to force the closure of pits with workable coal reserves? I refer to Scottish pits such as Cardowan, where over 1,100 people are employed and which is on the NCB hit list. Do the Government seriously want a repetition of the 1974 confrontation which led to the ignominious defeat of the Tory Government?

Mr. Moore

As the NCB has made clear, there is no hit list. The hon. Gentleman's language does not assist the coal industry in trying, in the face of extremely difficult conditions, to develop markets for today and the future. The Government are not in the business of warning any side of the coal industry. The coal industry knows the difficulties and will make decisions rationally. Governments do not have the ability to determine the future of individual pits, let alone decide on the engineering availability of coal in any pit in Scotland.