§ Mr. TippingTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how much subsidy for extra sales of deep-mined coal, as outlined in "Prospects for Coal" was paid out by 31 March; how many contracts this involves; what was the tonnage of coal involved in that contract; and what is his estimate of the financial support that will be paid in 1994–95.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 5 July 1994]: To date, the Department has paid £3,237,639 of subsidy covering the sale of 361,523 tonnes of additional coal in 1993–94. Of this, £651,966 was paid by 31 March. The remainder was paid in June following receipt of authorisation from the European Commission for payments in respect of production from 1 January 1994 onwards.
Altogether the Department has made six offers of subsidy in relation to seven contracts covering some 2 million tonnes of coal. The total amount of subsidy paid in 1994–95 will depend on how successful British Coal and the private sector are in securing further sales.