§ 86. Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what activities will be carried on at the Royal Mint, Tower Hill, between January 1971, when the production of coins there is expected to cease, and mid-1974 when Tower Hill is expected to cease to be used.
§ Mr. William Rodgers:Mainly the production of coinage blanks with some toolwork, seals and certain medals.
§ 87. Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further transfer of plant, machinery and operations from Tower Hill to Llantrisant will be needed in order to enable the Royal Mint, Llantrisant, to undertake the whole of the estimated output of coins from January 1971 onwards.
§ Mr. William Rodgers:Coining presses of types not already installed at Llantrisant, some marking and coin counting machines and a few items of ancillary equipment will need to be transferred.
§ 88. Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further transfer of staff and hourly-paid employees from Tower Hill to Llantrisant will be needed by the end of 1970 in order to ensure that the Royal Mint, 31W Llantrisant, will be capable of undertaking the whole of the estimated output of coins from January 1971 onwards.
§ Mr. William Rodgers:A few staff only will be needed.
§ 89. Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff and hourly-paid employees, respectively, will be employed at the Royal Mint, Tower Hill, on 1st January and 1st July 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974.
§ Mr. William Rodgers:Present assumptions are that it may be possible to offer employment to some 400–500 hourly-paid employees throughout the greater part of the period, and that the staff may fall progressively from about 280 in January 1971 to about 100 in January 1974. But these figures are highly speculative and could be greatly changed by circumstances.
§ 91. Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer upon what evidence he bases his estimate that the current low level of foreign orders for the Royal Mint is temporary; to which countries the estimated production for export of 560 million coins in 1970 will go; and upon what factors he estimates export production in the first half of 1971 to be between 250 and 350 million coins.
§ Mr. William RodgersCoinage demand has always been subject to wide fluctuation, but there is a well established trend towards greater use of coin throughout the world, and every reason to believe that this will continue. The countries for whom coins are being struck in 1970 include the Bahama Islands, Bahrain, Bermuda, Brunei, Burundi, Cambodia, Ceylon, Cyprus, Guyana, Iceland, Iraq, the Republic of Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malawi, Malaysia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Republic of Vietnam.
The forecast of export production in the first half of 1971 is based mainly on reports from the Royal Mint's agents overseas, and a study of the pattern of past demand from countries who tend to place regular orders.
§ 92. Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what increases of staff and hourly-paid employees he will 32W make at the Royal Mint, Llantrisant, from the present levels of 164 and 379, respectively, between now and the end of 1970, and between January and July in each of 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974, to reach the final estimated totals of 286 and 595, respectively.
§ Mr. William Rodgers:The numbers will depend on circumstances and fore casts and are necessarily highly speculative.
§ 93. Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which overseas countries which have placed orders for coinage at the Royal Mint since 1960 have notified the Mint that they are withdrawing their custom on the grounds that they have placed orders at mints other than the Royal Mint since the date of their last order given to the Royal Mint.
§ Mr. William Rodgers:None.