§ 7. Sir Trevor SkeetTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the output per man year in British Coal's mines in (a) 1978–79, (b) 1983–84 and (c) 1990–91.
§ Mr. WakehamThe output per man year in British Coal's mines was 448 tonnes in 1978–79, 470 tonnes in 1983–84 and 1,181 tonnes in 1990–91—an increase of 163 per cent. over 11 years.
§ Sir Trevor SkeetAlthough the trend in the figures is most gratifying, thanks to the enormous investment by the Government, does my right hon. Friend agree that British Coal is still not competitive with coal from Australia, 691 South Africa, Colombia and the United States? Much additional work has to be done to increase productivity further.
§ Mr. WakehamI agree with my hon. Friend. The Government have supported the coal industry since 1979 with a total investment of £17 billion and productivity has improved, particularly in recent years. As the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) said, productivity of British mines is the highest in Europe, but major exporting countries such as Australia and the United States achieve higher productivity. British Coal therefore needs to continue its efforts to raise productivity still further.
§ Mr. RedmondDoes the Secretary of State accept that the improvement in productivity is partly due to the fact that the number of registered disabled people employed by British Coal has fallen? Is he aware that that figure is now 0.4 per cent., which is way below the guidelines laid down in legislation? Does he intend to prosecute British Coal for its failure to maintain the percentage of registered disabled people employed in the industry?
§ Mr. WakehamOn the general point, I do not believe that the substantial improvement in productivity has arisen through a reduction in the number of disabled people in the mines. The hon. Gentleman is being neither reasonable nor fair to the management or work force in British mines and is not taking account of the pain and suffering through which some of them had to go to achieve that improvement. I shall not necessarily take the hon. Gentleman's figures on the disabled as being correct, but I shall certainly make inquiries of British Coal to find out what the position is, and I shall write to the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. BatisteHowever successful British Coal is in the future in building on its outstanding success in recent years and improving productivity, one of its basic problems is that it can sell only coal. Should not one of the objectives of our privatisation programme be to give British Coal, or whoever the private company may be, the freedom to produce electricity from its coal and to sell that electricity through the national grid?
§ Mr. WakehamMy hon. Friend makes an interesting suggestion. However, the form and shape of privatisation will not be determined until after the general election. Those who have any doubts about it should note that there is scope for further improvements in productivity. I have received an encouraging report from Boyds, the US mining engineering company, which has reviewed British Coal's colliery operations and found much scope for further productivity improvements. It concludes that British Coal should be able to compete with the price of imported coal while continuing to improve safety standards.
§ Mr. BarronThe whole House will want to congratulate the British miners on doing everything that has been asked of them over a number of years and achieving that massive increase in productivity.
The generators are now buying coal at 3 per cent. less than before privatisation. Given that 70 per cent. of the generators' costs is the cost of British coal, will the 692 Secretary of State explain why the cost of electricity for more than 21 million households has risen by 40 per cent. during the same period?
§ Mr. WakehamIt represents some 25 per cent. of the cost of electricity. Electricity prices have fallen by some 2 per cent. in the past seven years, compared with an increase of 22 per cent. in real terms under Labour—or 2 per cent. every six weeks.