Mr. O'NeillTo ask the President of the Board of Trade according to what criteria the review procedure ordered by Lord Justice Glidewell in his ruling of 21 December 1992 will assess the viability of the 31 pits listed for closure.
§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will now include the 10 pits proposed for immediate closure with the other 21 in his review following judgment of the High Court of 21 December 1992.
852W
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 14 January 1993]: Lord Justice Glidewell did not order a review procedure to assess the viability of the 31 pits. His judgment related only to the 10 pits subject to consultation by British Coal. He said that what was needed was the rapid addition to the consultation already under way of some independent scrutiny. While it was for British Coal and the unions to decide how such an independent scrutiny should be conducted and who should conduct it, he said he had the impression that if my right hon. Friend instructed Boyds to report on the 10 pits as well as the other 21 and in particular to consider whether British Coal's criteria for the closure of 10 pits would be met in relation to any or all of them, the unions and other applicants might well agree to that course. It was also in his view a solution which any future court might well conclude was within his declaration.
In his light of the judgment, my right hon. Friend has appointed Boyds to report on the 10 pits. This course is not intended in any way to pre-empt the outcome of the discussions between British Coal and the unions on the procedure which they should now follow. It is also a separate exercise from Boyd's current work on the other 21 pits being carried out as part of the coal review. No final decision will be taken on closing the 10 pits until the House has had the chance to debate the coal review White Paper, the consultation process has been completed and Boyds have reported.
Mr. O'NeillTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans there are to resume production at the 10 collieries that he announced would be closed in his statement to the House of 19 October 1992, following the ruling of the High Court of 21 December 1992.
§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the steps being taken by his Department and British Coal following the judgment of the High Court of 21 December 1992 in respect of(a) resumption of normal working at the 10 pits proposed for immediate closure and (b) review of the redundancies occurring between 13 October 1992 and 21 December 1992 at those pits.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 14 January 1993]: These are matters for British Coal. However, I do not understand there to be anything in the judgment which requires coaling to resume at the 10 pits.