§ Mr. Rowlandsasked the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of jobs likely to be lost in the Welsh coalmining industry in 1985 and 1986; and (b) of the number of jobs likely to be created in Wales by National Coal Board (Enterprise) Ltd.
Mr. NicholasEdwards: The National Coal Board and the mining unions met earlier this week to discuss the general situation of the south Wales coalfield. Future manpower levels will depend on decisions yet to be taken.
In the short time since it was set up, NCB (Enterprise) Ltd. has already committed just over £0.6 million in support of local agencies in south Wales concerned with job creation and has also itself made loans totalling more than £0.3 million to specific projects offering the prospect of over 300 jobs. Its activities will continue to complement the economic development function of the Welsh Development Agency.