§ 32. Mr. GroganTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the Government's policy towards the coal industry. [77069]
§ Mr. BattleThe United Kingdom coal industry neither seeks nor receives special treatment. The Government are concerned to ensure that UK coal producers are able to compete on a level playing field with other sources of energy and with imported coal.
The measures the Government are taking to remove distortions in the UK electricity market will ensure a level playing field for all fuels. It is for UK coal producers to respond to the challenge of an open and competitive coal market.
I published last week a report by International Mining Consultants Ltd. (IMCL) commissioned by my Department on the prospects for deep mined coal production in the UK over the next twenty years. The report shows that there are sufficient reserves to sustain a competitive deep mine industry of significant size well into the new century.