§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total amount of coal won by opencast means that was used for blending with deep mine coal to provide coal of an overall quality acceptable to customers for each of the years since 1983; and if he will express this in absolute terms and as a percentage of total United Kingdom coal production.
§ Mr. EggarThe Department of Trade and Industry routinely publishes figures for total production of deep-mined and opencast coal in "Energy Trends", but the amounts used for blending are an operational matter for coal producers including British Coal.