§ THE EARL OF CRAVENMy Lords, I beg to ask the question standing in my name.
§ [The question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government what stocks of coal and coke are held by Government and Service Departments, and whether consideration has been given to the possible supply of these commodities from such stocks to relieve the present acute shortage in household supplies.]
§ LORD AMMONMy Lords, as the reply to this question is a long and detailed one consisting largely of tables and figures, I propose with the noble Lord's consent to publish it in the Official Report.
§ The reply referred to by Lord Ammon was as follows:
§ The latest available figures of stocks of house coal and coke held by Government and Service Departments are as follows:
| House Coal. | |
| Army | 205,000 tons |
| R.A.F. | 52,200 tons |
| Ministry of Works | 91,000 tons |
| Coke. | |
| Army | 155,000 tons |
| R.A.F. | 97,000 tons |
| Ministry of Works | 67,700 tons |
§ Supplies to the Army have been suspended and modified programmes of supply have been introduced for the R.A.F. and Ministry of Works.
§ 31,500 tons of house coal from Army stocks, 3,250 tons from the R.A.F. and 1,000 tons from the Ministry of Works have already been released to assist the civilian consumer. The remainder of the stocks are required to meet consumption over the rest of the winter thereby releasing coal and coke from current production for the general public.