§ Sir G. Nabarroasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what revised estimate he has now made of the output from the coal mining industry during 1973; whether output per manshift continues to rise; what figures he has relating to trends in productivity; and what is his estimate of capital expenditure to be incurred by the coal mining industry for the year to 31st March 1974.
§ Mr. Tom BoardmanI accept the National Coal Board's estimate of output of coal in 1973 of between 135 million and 140 million tons which I gave to my hon. Friend on 7th May. Output per manshift continues to rise subject to seasonal fluctuations; this is the industry's usual measure of productivity. The most recent figures available are for the five weeks ended 5th May which show output per manshift at 47.1 cwt. The NCB expects to spend approximately £75 million on capital account in 1973–74 on its coal-mining activities.—[Vol. 856, cc. 17–18.]