§ Mr. DoverTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what assessment he has made of the level of private sector investment in the supply of British coal from opencast sites; and how many people are employed in this sector;
(2) how many jobs of private sector employees engaged in opencast coal production would be lost if British Coal opencast coal production was cut by (a) one quarter, (b) one third or (c) one half.
406W
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 24 March 1993]: British Coal has advised me that private sector companies have invested over £1 billion in plant and other assets engaged in opencast mining in the United Kingdom. Some 10,000 people are directly employed in opencast operations. Employment levels could be expected to change broadly in line with changes in output.
§ Mr. DoverTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the assessed reserves of opencast coal in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 24 March 1993]: British Coal advises me that proved reserves of opencast coal in Great Britain are in excess of 300 million tonnes, and there are further substantial unproved reserves. There are no figures available for lignite reserves in Northern Ireland.