§ Mr. G. Elfed Daviesasked the Minister of Power what estimate he has made of the relationship between growing productivity and declining demand on the future labour requirements of the coal industry; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MasonOn the basis of the estimates for 1975 used in Cmnd. 3438 (Table D) roughly three-fifths of the rundown of the mining labour force would occur even if there were no further fall in the level of coal demand, due to the increasing productivity which the industry must achieve to be competitive.
Mr. Clifford Williamsasked the Minister of Power what estimate he has made of the number of additional miners needed in the coal industry in 1975 on the basis of a demand for coal of 135 million tons a year as against the 120 million tons estimated in Command Paper No. 3438.
§ Mr. MasonI would not expect there to be any marked difference. This is because the two figures of demand presuppose different productivity achievements and hence different production costs.