HC Deb 01 May 1996 vol 276 cc547-8W
Mr. Llwyd

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much coal was produced from deep mines in(a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) the United Kingdom in each year since 1980; and if he will make statement. [27500]

Mr. Page

British Coal deep-mined production was as follows:

Thousand tonnes
England Wales Scotland United Kingdom
1980–81 94,161 8,280 7,846 110,287
1981–82 93,411 8,140 7,320 108,871
1982–83 90,677 7,580 6,681 104,938
1983–84 78,179 6,560 5,323 90,062
1984–85 2— 2— 304 27,664
1985–86 76,932 7,210 4,276 88,418
1986–87 77,531 6,980 3,442 87,953
1987–88 74,336 5,460 2,603 82,399
1988–89 77,578 5,530 1,927 85,035
1989–90 69,538 4,040 1,994 75,572
1990–91 66,353 3,740 2,207 72,300
1991–92 66,444 2,320 2,246 71,010
1992–93 57,877 1,900 2,028 61,085
1993–94 2— 1,430 2— 42,700
1994–951 2— 2— 2— 21,500
1 April to December 1994 only.
2 Not available.

Source

British Coal and Digest of Welsh Statistics.

United Kingdom deep-mined production in 1995 from the privatised coal industry totalled 35,103 thousand tonnes in 1995 compared with 31,854 thousand tonnes in 1994. Separate figures for England, Wales, and Scotland are not available.

Mr. Llwyd

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many miners were employed in(a) England, and (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) the United Kingdom as a whole in each year since 1980; and if he will make a statement. [27439]

Mr. Page

The number of underground wage earners1 on British Coal colliery books was as follows:

Thousands
Month ending England Wales Scotland United Kingdom
March 1981 185 20 20 225
March 1982 137 20 15 172
March 1983 132 18 14 164
March 1984 120 17 11 148
March 1985 2— 2— 10 139
March 1986 93 14 7 114
March 1987 77 10 4 91
March 1988 64 8 3 75
March 1989 61 6 2 69
March 1990 50 4 1 56
March 1991 45 3 1 49
Thousands
Month ending England Wales Scotland United Kingdom
March 1992 36 1 1 38
March 1993 25 1 1 28
March 1994 2— 1 2— 10
December 1994 2— 2— 2— 7
1 Figures for 1994 include all industrial colliery workers, not just underground workers.
2 Not available.

Source:

British Coal and Digest of Welsh Statistics.

At the end of 1995 about 10,000 mineworkers were employed in the large deep mines in operation in the private sector.