HC Deb 10 November 1992 vol 213 cc724-5W
Mr. Llew Smith

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table showing the predicted profits available from the sale of coal reserves known to exist in the 31 pits he announced would close against the loss of income tax, national insurance and indirect tax payments from coal miners made redundant, on the assumption of the maximum calculated length of operation of each pit to technical exhaustion.

Mr. Eggar

We do not have the information requested on the predicted profits from the sale of coal reserves.

Mr. Fatchett

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the meetings in September and October between his Department and(a) representatives of the Colombian Government and (b) Carbocol, the Colombian state coal company; and if he will make a statement;

Mr. Madden

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) on what dates he, his ministerial colleagues, or his officials, met Ministers or officials, representing the Government of Colombia, to discuss the sale and supply of Colombian coal to the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement;

(2) when the intergovernmental committee between Her Majesty's Government and Colombia was established; how many meetings, to date, of the committee have taken place; when the next meeting is scheduled; and what matters are due to be discussed.

Mr. Eggar

[holding answer 29 October 1992]: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on Monday 2 November, Official Report, column 32. The next meeting of the trade facilitation group is expected to be in Colombia in February. There have been no intergovernmental meetings to discuss the sale and supply of Colombian coal to the United Kingdom. The Minister for Trade met the Colombian Foreign Trade Minister on 30 September to discuss bilateral trade issues. No meetings took place with Carbocol.

Mr. Tipping

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out his current timetable for the privatisation of British Coal.

Mr. Eggar

[holding answer 2 November 1992]: Decisions have yet to be taken on the timing of privatisation. Decisions on the timetable will need to take account of the coal review which my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has announced.

Dr. Hampson

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many civil servants are involved in conducting his review into the coal industry; and if he will list for each of them their grade and previous responsibility within his Department or other Government Departments.

Mr. Eggar

[holding answer 9 November 1992]: The Department's coal review team is headed by Peter Loughead, a grade 3 civil servant, who previously worked on financial services in the DTI and then in Her Majesty's Treasury. It comprises in addition one grade 5, three grade 7s, one higher executive officer (Development), two higher executive officers and two executive officers. They have had a range of previous responsibilities within the Department of Trade and Industry. There are, in addition, seven clerical and secretarial staff. It is likely that further people will join the review team in due course.