§ Mr. Donald AndersonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what estimate he has made of the total job loss throughout the economy consequent upon the pit closure programme he announced last week;
(2) what is his working assuption of the consequential effects on British Rail manpower and finances of the pit closure programme which he announced last week.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of the knock-on effect of the closure of the 31 mines on employment in(a) transport, (b) the engineering industry, including belting etc., (c) other material suppliers, (d) the demand for electric power on base load, (e) the demand for consumer goods and (f) retail distribution; and if he will provide an approximate total for the total knock-on effect, including the second-round effects.
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the President of the Board of Trade by what formula he estimates the number of businesses which close consequent on the closure of a colliery.
§ Mr. ChurchillTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set in hand a study to estimate the overall number of job losses in the mining and related industries and in the mining communities likely to arise in the event of all 31 pits being closed, as announced by him in his statement of 13 October.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 6 November 1992]: The Government's view of the employment consequences of pit closures is set out in the memorandum submitted to the Employment Select Committee of the House on 1 December 1992 by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment. With the agreement of the Committee, a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.