HC Deb 10 June 2002 vol 386 cc985-7W
David Hamilton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many miners were employed in the coal industry in each year since 1990 in(a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales. [60309]

Mr. Wilson

Separate figures for Scotland, England and Wales are not available prior to 1996. Figures listed below for the period 1990–95 are taken from British Coal Colliery books.

Total Scotland England Wales
1990 49.000
1991 38.000
1992 28,000
1993 10.000
1994 7.000
1995 12,000
1996 14,776 1,923 11,146 1,707
1997 17,300 2,370 13,505 1,425
1998 17,182 2,476 13,171 1,535
1999 14,215 2,103 10,898 1,214
2000 11,228 1,895 8,364 969
20011 11,430 2,038 8,384 1,008
1 Provisional

Notes:

1. Figures up to 1994 record underground wage earners on British Coal Colliery books.

2. Figures from 1995 record the total number of persons employed during the year, and records deep mines only, including contractors.

Source:

1. Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 1981.

2. The Coal Authority.

David Hamilton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much coal was imported into England in each year since 1997. [60282]

Mr. Wilson

Total imports of coal into the UK since 1997, in millions of tonnes, were as follows:

Million tones
1997 19.7
1998 21.2
1999 20.3
2000 23.4
20011 35.5
1 Provisional

Source:

Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, 2001 (The Stationery Office); Energy Trends, March 2002 (DTI publication).

David Hamilton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much anthracite has been produced in Wales in each year since 1997. [60307]

Mr. Wilson

Figures which are provided by coal producers to the Coal Authority are restricted to preserve individual company confidentiality. Publicly available total production figures for Wales since 1987, in millions of tonnes, are shown below. The majority of coal produced in Wales is anthracite.

Million tones
1997 3.2
1998 2.5
1999 2.2
2000 2.1
20011 2.1
1 Provisional

Source:

Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (The Stationery Office)

David Hamilton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much deep-mined coal has been produced in(a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales in each year since 1997. [60279]

Mr. Wilson

The information available on the amount of deep-mined coal produced in Scotland, England and Wales relates to financial years and, in millions of tonnes, is as follows:

Output of deep-mined coal1
Scotland England Wales
1996–97 1.4 29.8 0.9
1997–98 1.9 25.4 0.8
1998–99 1.6 21.4 0.7
1999–2000 1.0 17.9 0.6
2000–01 0.7 15.9 0.7
2001–02 0.8 16.7 0.7
1 Output is the tonnage declared by operators to the Coal Authority, including estimated tonnages.

Source:

Coal Authority data as published in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, 2001 (The Stationery Office).

David Hamilton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people were employed in opencast production in each year since 1997 in(a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) England. [60286]

Mr. Wilson

The number of people employed in opencast coal production in Scotland, Wales and England since 1997 was as follows:

Scotland Wales England
1997 1,169 632 1,918
1998 1,600 694 2,265
1999 1,301 550 1,882
2000 1,252 433 1,300
2001 1,267 456 1,068
2002 1,688 433 1,211

Source:

Coal Authority data as published in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, 2001 (The Stationery Office).

David Hamilton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much opencast coal has been produced in(a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales in each year since 1997. [60280]

Mr. Wilson

The information available on the total amount of opencast coal produced in Scotland, England and Wales relates to financial years and was, in millions of tonnes, as follows:

Output of opencast coal1
Scotland England Wales
1996–97 5.4 8.4 2.3
1997–98 6.3 8.1 1.8
1998–99 6.4 7.0 1.5
1999–2000 7.2 6.2 1.5
2000–01 7.1 4.8 1.4
2001–02 8.2 4.9 1.2
1 Output is the tonnage declared by operators to the Coal Authority, including estimated tonnages.

Source:

Coal Authority data as published in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, 2001 (The Stationery Office).