§ Mr. Sharpasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps he is taking to improve the supply of pitprops for the Ruhr mines; what immediate improvement is expected and to what extent the shortage of these is now affecting coal production.
Mr. McNeilThe supply of pitprops to the Ruhr mines is essentially a German responsibility. The Anglo - American authorities in the combined zone have frequently stressed its importance to the German authorities, and it has been agreed that the resources of the North German Timber Control, which is a British organisation, should be diverted during the first quarter of 1948 from the export of timber142W to the United Kingdom to the production of pitprops for the Ruhr. Supplies to the mines have risen steadily from an average of 40,000 festmetres a week in November to 68,000 festmetres in the week ended 1st February, and further improvement is expected. It is not possible to assess the extent to which coal production is being affected by the shortage of pitprops as compared with other limiting factors.