§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give details of those subsidies which have been made to the mining operations of British Coal in each of the last eight quarter year periods for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 2 November 1992]: Figures for financial assistance to British Coal by quarter are not 442W readily available. Government grants paid to British Coal in the last two financial years, 1991–92 and 1990–91, were £709 million and £1,822 million respectively. In addition, British Coal benefited by about £1 billion in both years from the high margins, over and above world market prices, that the electricity generators are obliged to pay for their coal supplies from the corporation under present contracts.