§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish a table 103W showing the output of coal, the number of persons employed in coal mining and the average output per head employed for each of the past five years.
§ Mr. Eadie:The following is the information:
Year Production NCB mines (m. tons) Employees* (thousand) Average annual output per employee (tons) 1972 106.7 271.0 394 1973 117.5 257.3 457 1974 97.8 245.2 399 1975 114.9 247.9 464 1976 107.9 242.8 445 *Average during year of wage earners on colliery books at NCB mines.
Financial year ending March— Column 1 Total output per NCB employee ton Column 2 Colliery output per NCB employee ton Column 3 Grants and write-offs per NCB employee£ 1977 … … … … … 400.0 362.0 234.7 1976 … … … … … 408.6 374.7 316.4 1975 … … … … … 416.6 386.1 461.9 1974 … … … … … 349.5 320.2 876.9 1973 … … … … … 441.6 409.7 1,516.1 The output figures used in calculating the ratio in column 1 include opencast production by contractors to the NCB. Figures for colliery output only are used in column 2. The output figures for the year ending March 1974 reflect the miners' overtime ban and strike in that year.
Regional development grants are included in column 3 of the table as well as grants under Coal Industry Acts. The figures for the years ending March 1975 and March 1976 include grants totalling £100 million towards the settlement of claims for pneumoconiosis outstanding at 1st October 1974. The figure for the year ending March 1973 takes account of outstanding liabilities of the Board to the Secretary of State amounting to £449.6 million which were written off in capital reconstruction. The figure for the year ending March 1974 includes the special Government grant of £130.7 million to match the NCB's deficit in that year.
It is not possible to give similar figures for new capital investment from public funds. Loans from the National Loans Fund relate to the overall capital requirements of the Board and not just to capital investment.
104W
§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Energy if, for each of the most recent five years for which figures are available, he will list the total of subsidies, write-offs of debt or capital and other grants, gifts or transfers of money, other than capital investment, made to the National Coal Board expressed as a sum per head of its employees, the total of new capital investment from public funds per head of the employees of the National Coal Board and the production of coal per head of employees of the National Coal Board.
§ Mr. Eadie:The figures for production and for grants and write-offs are as follows :