§ 7. Mr. Ray Powellasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will arrange to meet the chairman of the National Coal Board as soon as possible to discuss the proposed closure of the Wyndham western colliery, Ogmore, the position of other collieries in south Wales and the effect on employment in Wales.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsI shall be meeting Mr. MacGregor on 6 December and expect to discuss with him a wide range of matters relating to the coal industry.
§ Mr. PowellIs the Secretary of State aware that the south Wales NUM is meeting Ian MacGregor tomorrow? 7 Will he send an urgent message to Ian MacGregor to allow investment for the Wyndham western colliery—at least on a short-term basis—to save 500 jobs, to open up the coalfield at the Margam mine on a long-term basis and to stop treating south Wales as the Cinderella of the British coal industry?
§ Mr. EdwardsAs the hon. Gentleman is aware, on 23 September the National Coal Board announced that it proposed to close the Wyndham western pit, which has lost about £19 million in three years. Tomorrow the National Coal Board is to consider proposals put forward by the union to exploit reserves to the south of the existing mine. It is for the National Coal Board to assess those proposals, and it will be going through the normal consultation procedure tomorrow.
Again, it is the responsibility of the National Coal Board to decide whether Margam is a sensible project in which to invest funds. I am delighted to say that this year there has been a substantial increase in the money allocated to seeking new reserves in south Wales. In the current year about £20 million is going towards new investment in the south Wales field.
§ Mr. Hubbard-MilesDoes my right hon. Friend welcome the considerable investment by the National Coal Board in surveying and prospecting in the south Wales coalfields? Does not the future lie more in opening new anthracite reserves than in sustaining worked out pits?
§ Mr. EdwardsI welcome the fact that the National Coal Board is spending £1.2 million—about 14 per cent. of its exploration budget—this year in the search for new anthracite reserves in a coalfield that produces about 7 per cent. of total output.
§ Mr. GristWill my right hon. Friend estimate how many jobs have been safeguarded, how many have been created, and how many pits have been saved by the current NUM ban on overtime?
§ Mr. EdwardsIt is certainly not the way to save pits. I understand that the south Wales miners are losing substantial sums of money for every day that the dispute continues, so it is not helping the miners either.