§ 84. Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is now the pithead price of coal per ton and the price at which it is made available to the Electricity Generating Board; and if he will tabulate how this compares with the price of coal, coke and leading smokeless fuels to the domestic consumer.
§ Sir J. EdenThe pithead price is represented by the average proceeds per ton at pithead is published in the Annual Report and Accounts of the National Coal Board; for the latest year, 1970–71, it was £5.84 per ton.
19WAs regards prices paid by the C.E.G.B. I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given earlier today to the hon. Member for Dearne Valley (Mr. Edwin Wainwright). Some information on typical solid fuel prices to domestic consumers is given in Table 94 of this Department's "Digest of Energy Statistics, 1971".
§ Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the estimated additional costs of the coal strike and the wage increases, following the Wilberforce Report, and negotiated between the National Coal Board and the National Union of Mineworkers were to fall on the consumer, what estimate he has made of the average price of coal per ton, and if he will quantify the increase to the user if the National Coal Board is to meet the profit obligations of nationalised industries.
§ Sir J. EdenUrgent consideration is being given to the financial consequences for the N.C.B. of the miners' strike and the Wilberforce recommendations. I cannot anticipate the results of this examination.