§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list in the Official Report the number of persons employed in the coal mining industry in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. David HuntFigures showing the total number of persons employed by the board and its wholly-owned subsidiaries are set out in the NCB's annual report and accounts. Figures given for the last five years were:
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(end September) 1979: 294,906 1980: 293,940 1981: 279,207 1982: 266,315 1983: 246,835 The equivalent figure for 1984 is 222,022 (provisional).
The reduction in the number of persons employed in the industry in the last 11 years of Labour Governments was 227,130, which far exceeds 130,019, the reduction in the nine years of Conservative Governments since 1970.