§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Minister of Power what conclusions were drawn at the Fuel Policy Conference in May, 1967, on the effect of the level of contraction of the coal industry for the period ending 1975; and what recommendations were made by the National Coal Board to him for the period ending 1971 as part of any acceptance of the 1975 levels of contraction.
§ Mr. Marsh:The detailed proceedings of the Fuel Policy Conference are confidential. As stated in the White Paper on Fuel Policy (Cmnd. 3438), the Government concluded, following discussion at the Conference, that the contraction of the coal industry to the level for 1975 envisaged in the trend of primary fuel use shown in Table A on Page 36 of the White Paper, should be manageable; and for the period up to 1970–71 the Government accepted the advice of the National Coal Board that a rundown of about 35,000 men a year would be manageable and decided that planning for the industry's contraction up to 1970–71 should be based on that figure.