§ 38. Mr. Osborneasked the Minister of Fuel and Power why he has decided that no Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire coal shall be delivered to Leicestershire; why supplies will be 30 per cent outcrop and 70 per cent Leicestershire, neither of which is good domestic coal: and why Leicestershire has been singled nut for this treatment.
§ Mr. Shinwellthe flow of coal supplies into any area is governed primarily by two factors, availability of coal and of transport. Leicestershire is the most natural market for Leicestershire coal and so long as the shortage of railway wagons remains acute must continue to be largely supplied from that source. Stations on the L.N.E.R system in Leicestershire not directly connected with the Leicestershire coalfields are, however, supplied from the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire coalfields. The disposal of opencast coal is also governed by the wagon shortage and distribution must, at present, be by road to areas within a reasonable radius from the opencast sites. In consequence all merchants' depôts, not only in Leicestershire, but in the whole of the North Midland Region, are required to take approximately 30 per cent. of their supplies in opencast coal.