§ Mr. LesterTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what total amount of subsidy towards the cost of production has been paid by the Department to British Coal since the 1993 coal White Paper;
(2) what conditions need to be met in order to claim a subsidy from the Government to British Coal towards the cost of production from a particular mine;
(3) how many requests his Department has received from British Coal since last March for a subsidy to a mine or group of mines; and how many have been accepted.
§ Mr. EggarThe coal subsidy is available to both British Coal, and private sector producers, in support of genuinely additional sales of deep mined coal for electricity generation, at world market related prices. Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account a range of factors including, the price paid for the coal, which should be related to world market prices, current and projected production costs at the pit, the financial performance of the pit and the position of competing producers, as it is important to ensure that United Kingdom opencast producers are not unfairly disadvantaged.
The Department of Trade and Industry has received a number of bids for subsidy since March 1993. Details of individual applications are commercially confidential, but so far, two offers of subsidy have been made to British Coal, in support of sales from Ellington colliery. Both offers are subject to EC clearance.
644WThe subsidy is payable in arrears in line with actual deliveries made. To date, no subsidy has been paid to British Coal. Details of the total amount of subsidy awarded will however be made available to Parliament in the normal way.
§ Mr. TippingTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list all the consultants commissioned by him to report on the restructuring and privatisation of British Coal; what are their terms of reference; when each piece of work was commissioned; and when it was completed.
§ Mr. EggarDetails of consultants appointed by the Department on privatisation and associated restructuring are as follows:
Consultant Date Scope of work NM Rothschild 30 May 1991 Provision of financial advice in connection with the privatisation of the coal industry. Clifford Chance 19 June 1991 Provision of legal advice in connection with the privatisation of the coal industry. John T. Boyd 5 August 1991 Provision of advice on technical matters related to evaluating the potential for improvements in mining productivity and costs in the United Kingdom coal industry and other similar matters that may be specified in connection with the privatisation of the coal industry. Touche Ross 12 June 1991 Provision of accounting and regulatory advice in connection with the privatisation of the coal industry. RPS Consultants 12 July 1993 Identification of and advice on environmental liabilities. Dewe Rogerson 28 July 1992 Provision of marketing advice for privatisation. Wardell Armstrong 5 August 1991 Provision of advice on technical matters related to minerals leasing and licensing. Peter Williams 7 January 1992 Provision of advice on coal mining safety matters in connection with the privatisation of British Coal. The consultants' work is continuing as work on privatisation progresses.
§ Mr. TippingTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total cost including expenses of all consultancies he has commissioned on the restructuring and privatisation of British Coal.
§ Mr. EggarExpenditure on consultancies in connection with the privatisation of British Coal for 1991–92 and 1992–93 was £3.3 million, including VAT, and £3.5 million, including VAT, respectively. Provision for 1993–94 is £13.5 million, including VAT. The consultancies budget for 1994–95 has still to be decided.