§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give an estimate of the respective cost of safety measures for coal mines in each of the following countries: Great Britain, France, West Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland and Spain.
301W
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Energy gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon (Mr. Woof) on 22nd November—[Vol. 919, c. 825]—which dealt with expenditure in Great Britain under the complementary headings of efficiency and safety. I am advised by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the collection of comparable information for the other countries could be undertaken only at unreasonable cost.