§ Mr. Warbeythe Minister of Housing and Local Government how many applications by the National Coal Board for permission to extract coal from opencast sites were made, and how many were approved, in each of the years 1947 to 1954 and for the year 1955 to the latest date for which information is available; and what was the estimated total amount of winnable coal for each year in respect of applications made and approval given, respectively.
§ Mr Geoffrey LloydI have been asked to reply.
Responsibility for opencast production rested with my Department until 1st April, 1952, when it was taken over by the National Coal Board. The following table shows the total applications made and approved from 1947 to June this year: