§ Mr. John Ryman (Blyth Valley)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the continuing failure of the independent colliery review tribunal to deal with urgent appeals relating to collieries threatened with closure immediately after Christmas.In Bate's colliery in Blyth, 1,400 men will be made redundant if it is closed, as proposed by the NCB. I recognise that I must persuade you, Mr. Speaker, that this matter is so urgent that it should have priority over the business that has already been arranged. In view of recent developments, my respectful submission is that, although this tribunal was set up by the NCB in October this year, since then it has been quite impossible to obtain any information from the Government as to the procedure of that tribunal which will hear appeals against pit closures.I have asked the Secretary of State for Energy and the Leader of the House several questions about the procedure of this tribunal, but both Ministers, doing their incompetent best, were quite unable to answer them. No one knows how this tribunal will function or even how it will be contacted. We do not know whether it will sit in London or in the region. Consequently, it is quite impossible to make adequate preparations to present a case against pit closure, either by the unions involved or the Blyth Valley council which is vitally interested in the outcome of these appeals. No statement has been made by the Government and no opportunity has been given for a debate, as a result of which the whole thing is extremely unsatisfactory and is surrounded in mystery.
The urgency of my application is demonstrated by the fact that Bate's colliery will close on 27 December, just two days after Christmas Day, and I hope to persuade you—I appreciate the high onus of proof on me—to allow this matter to be discussed this afternoon or this evening, because unless we have some information about the work of the colliery review tribunal, it will be quite impossible to prepare a case.
The NCB has been conducting a deliberate, systematic and fraudulent campaign to delay these procedures as long as possible, in the hope that, with Christmas overtaking events, the coal mining community in my constituency will then not have sufficient time to do anything about it. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to consider this matter seriously before coming to a decision.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Blyth Valley (Mr. Ryman) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the continuing failure of the independent colliery review tribunal to deal with urgent appeals relating to collieries threatened with closure immediately after Christmas".I have listened with care to what the hon. Gentleman has said, but, as he mentioned himself, my duty under Standing Order No. 10 is to consider whether a subject should be given priority over the business already set down for this evening or tomorrow. I regret that I cannot find that the matter which he has raised meets all of the criteria laid down under Standing Order No. 10 and, therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.