HC Deb 05 November 1996 vol 284 cc442-3W
Mr. Trickett

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many tonnes of coal were produced in Britain(a) in the current year, (b) in 1979 and (c) in 1990 utilising (i) opencast and (ii) deep mine production methods. [2212]

Mr. Page

The information requested is given as follows:

Thousand tonnes
Coal production Opencast Deep-mined
(a) 1995/19961 16,369 35,150
10,795 22,172
(b) 1979 12,862 107,775
(c) 1990 18,134 72,899

Sources:

Energy Trends Table 4.

Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics.

Note:

1 To end August.

Mr. Trickett

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many people are currently employed by the opencast mining industry and the deep mining industry; and what were the figures in(a) 1979 and (b) 1990. [2211]

Mr. Page

Available information is as follows:

Employees in Great Britain
11979 21991 21993 31995
Deep coal mining 233,900 70,200 26,300 10,600
Opencast mining 7,700 5,700 5,900

1 Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistic,1980.Figures are for employees engaged in production in December 1979.

2 Source: Census of employment September 1991 and September 1993, Office for National Statistics. The census of employment was conducted every two years, so data are not available for even numbered years.

3 Source: annual employment survey September 1995, which replaced the biennial census of employment, Office for National Statistics. The figure covers all mining and agglomeration of hard coal; separate figures are not available for deep coal mining and opencast coal working.