§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those coal faces which he has visited since taking office as President of the Board of Trade; on what dates those visits took place; and what estimate had been made in each case at that time of the probable life and potential tonnage of that coal face.
§ Mr. Heseltine[holding answer 2 November 1992]: I have not visited any collieries since taking up my present office. However, my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy visited Ollerton and Rufford collieries on 13 May and Whitemoor colliery on 17 July. My noble Friend Baroness Denton, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs and Small Firms, visited Silverwood colliery on 28 August. They had wide-ranging exchanges with local managers and members of the work force about the particular pits and issues affecting the industry more generally.