HC Deb 20 December 1982 vol 34 cc657-8
7. Mr. Ray Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his reply to the right hon. Member for Rhondda (Mr. Jones) on 22 November, Official Report, c. 567, what proportion of the National Coal Board's investment was in the Welsh coalfields.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

In broad terms, the Welsh share of investment was about 5 per cent.

Mr. Powell

Is the Secretary of State aware that the NUM has called a strike for 17 January because of the lack of capital investment and the general rundown and threat of pit closures? What, if anything, does he intend to do to try to avoid that strike? When will he take a stand on behalf of the Welsh coalfields similar to that taken by his Cabinet colleague the Secretary of State for Scotland on behalf of the steel industry?

Mr. Edwards

Certainly none of my colleagues is standing up to support a substantial drain on resources from loss-making industries. We have a problem, which is well understood, and it goes back a long time in Wales. Last year 40 per cent. of the National Coal Board's loss came from the Welsh field. In the first six months of this year the field lost £66 million, which is about £17 per tonne of coal. Clearly, it must be for the NCB to use the record resources given to it for capital investment to create a modern and effective coal industry in the way that it thinks fit.

Mr. Grist

Can my right hon. Friend fathom out how a strike in the South Wales coalfield could possibly convince anyone to put any more money into it?

Mr. Edwards

A strike would be disastrous for the South Wales coalfield, as strikes of that nature always are. This Government committed £722 million for coal investment last year, and they have given the industry nearly £2 billion for deep mining investment. That is nearly double the investment that was made during the last three years of the Labour Administration. It is for the NCB to decide how to make the most productive use of that investment.

Mr. Ioan Evans

Does the Secretary of State realise that he should be in the Cabinet representing Welsh interests? Does he appreciate the strong feeling in Wales that he is an apologist for Thatcherite policies, instead of defending the interests of jobs in Wales? Will he meet the NCB and ensure that a greater share of the investment in the coal industry in Britain goes to the Welsh coalfields, including the anthracite pits, the coking pits, and the Phurnacite plant in my constituency?

Mr. Edwards

I do not consider that I am defending Welsh interests in defending a continuing loss of £66 million in a half-year. It is my job to encourage the NCB to take the measures that it believes are right to improve the productivity and efficiency of the coal industry in Wales, as elsewhere.

Sir Anthony Meyer

Is it not a fact that coal industry jobs in Wales, like coal industry jobs elsewhere in the United Kingdom, depend on concentrating resources on those pits that can be made profitable and competitve?

Mr. Edwards

Clearly, if the industry were not likely to lose about £125 million in the present year in Wales there would be much more money available for investment. We must go down the twin roads of investing and reducing losses. Inevitably, that will mean some closures of the older and more difficult pits in Wales, as elsewhere.

Mr. Rowlands

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that one of the reasons for the better productivity in Welsh pits has been the capital investment in these areas? Will he confirm that there has been a real capital investment cut during the past three years in the Welsh coalfields of 40 per cent? Is he aware that that is responsible for the deep sense of frustration now felt in Welsh coalfields?

Mr. Edwards

I understand the anxieties and frustration, but the Welsh share of investment at present is about £33 million, and substantial modernisation is going on. It must be for the National Coal Board to decide where it can make the best use of the record sums that this Government have made available for coal investment.

Mr. Coleman

May I encourage the Minister to look to the future and support the need for substantial investment in new sources of coal production in South Wales as a means of ensuring that, when natural gas supplies run out, there will be adequate coal production to take up the need for gas? Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that such a provision should be made now rather than left until we are in a crisis?

Mr. Edwards

As the Government have doubled the capital resources available to the coal industry they are clearly guaranteeing it a sound future—if it is not destroyed or disrupted by unnecessary strikes. I do not intend to dictate to the NCB where it should place that investment.