§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the aggregate production of deep-mined coal from United Kingdom coalfields, and aggregate output per man-shift, in the latest period of 12 months for which details are available; what were the corresponding figures for the period of 12 months prior to introduction of the pit productivity scheme; and what has been the aggregate cost of that scheme to date.
§ Mr. John MooreI shall reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what estimate he has made of the total output of coal by deep mining and opencast mining, respectively, in the current year; and what advice he has received on the likely trend in coal production between now and the end of the century;
(2) what profit or loss was made by the National Coal Board from deep mining, opencast mining and other activities, respectively, in the most recent annual period for which figures are available; and what were the comparable figures in each of the previous 10 years;
(3) how much the National Coal Board intends to spend on investment over the next five years and if these plans are affected by the Chancellor's Budget Statement;
(4) if he is satisfied with the level of coal stocks and with coal output levels; and if he will make a statement;
(5) what plans the Coal Board has to increase or reduce its activities in industrial activities other than coal production; 260W and if the policy of Her Majesty's Government to encourage the Coal Board to sell some of its investments in these areas of production;
(6) what is his policy on private enterprise deep mining and opencast coal production; and if he will make a statement;
(7) if he will make a statement on the working of the Coal Board productivity agreement.
§ Mr. John MooreI shall reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the output of coal per man in the most recent monthly period for which figures are available; and what were the comparable figures in the same month of the previous 10 years.
§ Mr. Norman LamontStatistics of productivity in the coal industry are published in the Department's monthly statistical bulletin "Energy Trends" and in the annual "Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics". Copies are available in the Library of the House.
For convenience the figures requested are tabulated below:
Overall Output per manshift at NCB collieries (tonnes) May 1969 2.23 May 1970 2.30 May 1971 2.32 May 1972 2.35 May 1973 2.42 May 1974 2.26 May 1975 2.36 May 1976 2.31 May 1977 2.28 May 1978 2.27 May 1979 2.28
§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the total output of coal from deep mining, and open cast mining, respectively, in the most recent annual period for which figures are available; and what were the comparable totals for each of the previous 10 years.
§ Mr. Norman LamontStatistics of coal production are published in the Department's monthly statistical bulletin "Energy Trends" and in the annual "Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics". Copies are available in the Library of the House.
261WFor convenience the readily available figures are tabulated below.
COAL PRODUCTION IN GREAT BRITAIN (million tonnes) Deep-mined Opencast Year ended— March 1969 156.5 6.7 March 1970 143.1 6.7 March 1971 136.2 8.5 March 1972 111.7 10.5 March 1973 129.8 10.6 March 1974 99.3 9.6 March 1975 117.5 9.7 March 1976 115.1 10.7 March 1977 109.1 11.7 March 1978 106.9 14.0 March 1979 106.1 13.8 Year ended— 16 June 1979 105.7 13.7
§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the level of coal stocks on the most recent date for which figures are available; and what were the comparable stocks on the same date in each of the previous 10 years.
§ Mr. Norman LamontCoal stock statistics are published in the Department's monthly statistical bulletin "Energy Trends" and in the annual "Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics". Copies of both publications are available in the Library of the House.
For convenience, the latest figure and those for comparable dates in the previous 10 years are tabulated below.
Total Coal Stocks* in Great Britain (million tonnes) 14 June 1969 35.5 13 June 1970 23.8 19 June 1971 24.1 17 June 1972 25.6 16 June 1973 33.9 15 June 1974 20.4 14 June 1975 24.7 19 June 1976 32.8 18 June 1977 28.8 17 June 1978 31.5 16 June 1979 27.4 * Excluding stocks held by merchants and by industrial and domestic consumers.