§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Energy what revised estimate he has made of the output from the coal mining industry during 1975; whether output per man-shift continues to rise; what figures he has relating to trends in productivity; and what is his estimate of capital expenditure to be incurred by the coal mining industry for the year to 31st March 1976.
§ Mr. EadieOverall output in 1974–75 was 125.1 million tons made up of:
Million tons NCB deep-mined 14.1 NCB opencast 9.1 Licensed mines 1.4 It is too early in the year to make an estimate of the output in 1975–76 but the National Coal Board has set a base tonnage of 115 million tons deep-mined output for the purpose of production bonus.
The trend of output per man-shift in recent years has been affected by two 292W national strikes. Figures over the last five years are as follows:
OVERALL OUTPUT PER MAN-SHIFT HOURS Cwts 1970–71 44.1 1971–72 41.9 1972–73 45.7 1973–74 42.3 1974–75 45.0 The National Coal Board's aim is to increase productivity in 1975–76 by about 4 per cent. The board is planning to spend £175 million in 1975–76 on capital expenditure in respect of its mining activities.
§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Energy what amount of economically workable coal reserves has been estimated as a result of the National Coal Board's new exploration programme.
§ Mr. EadieAs a result of exploration in the last two years the National Coal Board has proved about 500 million tons of economically workable coal reserves accessible from existing collieries or in coalfields which the NCB plans to exploit in the near future. This is in addition to the total of 3,400 million tons which were already known to be accessible from existing collieries.
§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Energy how much has been spent by the National Coal Board on the coal exploration programme since 1972; and what estimate is further committed.
§ Mr. EadieThe National Coal Board has spent the following amounts on coal exploration over the last three years:
1972–73 £1 million 1973–74 £1.8 million 1974–75 £3.9 million Estimated expenditure in 1975–76 is £6£3 million.
§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Energy what sums of money are proposed to be invested in major colliery projects in the mining industry during the next five years.
§ Mr. EadieThe National Coal Board plans to invest about £400 million in major colliery projects during the five years to 1979–80.
293W
§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions have taken place in the European Council of Ministers concerning long-term fuel policy with particular emphasis on the rôle of coal.
§ Mr. John SmithGeneral guidelines for a common energy policy were discussed and adopted at a Council of Ministers held on 17th September 1974. Specific objectives and guidelines for 1985 were discussed and agreed at the Energy Councils of 17th December 1974 and 13th February 1975. These included objectives and guidelines for coal, the main points of which were debated in the House on 11th February.
§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Energy to what extent he estimates the coal industry's competitive performance is affected by the European Coal and Steel Community's need for the supply of British-produced coal in furtherance of a common energy policy.
§ Mr. John SmithCommunity energy policy provides for total Community coal production to be maintained at its current level and for access to world markets to be compatible with that. But this must presuppose that Community—including British—coal can be sold at competitive prices.
§ Mr. Kinnockasked the Secretary of of State for Energy what contribution to deep-mined coal production he expects each EEC member country to make in connection with the proposed integrated fuel policy.
§ Mr. John SmithIt is for each country to decide its own contribution to the objective of maintaining EEC coal production at at least its present level.
§ Mr. Kinnockasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the total tonnage of British-produced coal exported to member countries of the EEC in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. John SmithThe following is the information:
294W
U.K. Imports M tons 1965 3.3 1966 2.4 1967 1.6 1968 2.4 1969 3.1
1970 2.9 1971 2.5 1972 1.6 1973 2.5 1974 1.6
§ Mr. Kinnockasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the total tonnage of coal produced by EEC member contries imported by Great Britain in the past 10 years.
§ Mr. John SmithThe following is the information:
U.K. Imports M tons 1965 Negligible 1966 Negligible 1967 Negligible 1968 Negligible 1969 Negligible 1970 Negligible 1971 0.3 1972 0.6 1973 0.3 1974 0.1 Total 1.3