HC Deb 14 May 1968 vol 764 cc239-40W
Mrs. Thatcher

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity when the increased prices for coke and Phurnacite announced by the National Coal Board on 29th April last were referred to the National Board for Prices and Incomes.

Mr. Hattersley

The proposals for these increases were not referred to the Board. They were not major increases in the prices of a publicly owned industry which, in accordance with the Government decision announced on 7th September last year, should automatically be referred to the National Board for Prices and Incomes whatever the merits of the case. I explained to the House on 1st May the circumstances in which these increases had been accepted as justified against the criteria of Cmnd. 3590.—[Vol. 763, c. 1233–4.]