§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for Germany, France, Belgium and Holland such information as he has as to the latest available figures showing the price of coal, the amount of subsidy per tonne, and the estimated cost of producing each tonne: and if he will compare this with the United Kingdom coal industry.
§ Mr. David HuntNo recent comparative information is available. It has been announced that France intends to
92Wtotal for 1984–85 given in the autumn statement on 12 November 1984. The changes, which, for the voted cash limits, are subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, are as follows:
halve its coal industry over the next five years and to reduce employment in its coal industry by the same proportion.
The last set of comparative figures which are available relate to 1982. At that time the investment finance available to the coal industry in the United Kingdom was £736 million, compared with £231 million in the Federal Republic of Germany, £47 million in France and £19 million in Belgium.
Doubtless due to this heavy investment, production costs in Britain were lower than in the other countries. Production costs per tonne were £47 in the United Kingdom, £51.50 in Germany, £54.30 in France and £53.90 in Belgium. Production subsidies were provided by each country to bring their production costs into line with the prices at which their coal could be sold. In 1982 the revenue received per tonne was £38.10 in the United Kingdom, £37.50 in France, £39.20 in Belgium and £45.40 in the Federal Republic of Germany.
There is no doubt that, in the period since 1982., the massive gap between the investment finance provided by Britain and by other European countries has further widened, and the British investment programme in coal will have been more than double the investment made by the rest of the European Community put together.