§ 10. Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on current coal stocks.
§ Mr. EadieStocks on 20th December 1975, the latest date for which figures are available, were 31.8 million tons. They are rather higher than in normal years in the recent past due to the prevailing low demand for energy.
§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Energy what are now the stocks of all the main grades, including smokeless fuels and solid fuels, respectively, and in total; how this figure compares with a year ago; what is the rate of production of each grade and in total; and how this compares with use and consumption.
§ Mr. EadieStatistics on the main categories of coal production, consumption and stocks are contained in Tables 5, 7 and 8 of "Energy Trends", available in the Library of the House. Details of stocks, disposals and production of domestic solid fuel, including smokeless fuels, will take a short while to extract, but I will arrange for details to be published in theOfficial Report as soon as possible.