§ 1. Mr. KnoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what has been the increase in labour productivity in the coal mining industry since 1983–84.
§ The Secretary of State for Energy (Mr. John Wakeham)The British Coal Corporation has achieved impressive improvements in productivity, which is now 105 per cent. above 1983–84 levels.
§ Mr. KnoxDoes my right hon. Friend agree that that is an impressive increase over that period of years? Can he say whether productivity in the British coal industry is beginning to catch up with productivity in the coal industries of our major competitors?
§ Mr. WakehamCertainly the productivity of the coal industry has improved greatly over the years, but further improvement is still required. Although our productivity compares well with coal industries in Europe, it has some way to go before it is at the level of some of the coal industries outside Europe.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsDoes the Secretary of State accept that Britain has the most cost efficient coal industry in Europe, producing the cheapest coal, and that if it were in any one of the other 11 European countries there would be no question of its further contraction at this time? What is his view of the European Commission's proposals for reference pricing, which would allow Governments to support certain mines which produce coal for less than £50 per tonne?
§ Mr. WakehamNo communication has been sent to the British Government about European reference prices, so I have not had a chance to study those, but I pay full tribute to the improvement in productivity. What is important is that the British coal industry should achieve contracts with the generators in the next round of contracts due to start in April 1993. The size and volume of the contracts secured is the best safeguard for the future of the coal industry.