§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessments she has made of(a) the number of operational quarries in the UK (i) now and (ii) 10 years ago and (b) the percentage change in full-time quarrying jobs over the last 10 years. [45739]
§ Mr. WilsonNo special assessments of the quarrying industry have been made in order to determine the number of operational sites and the number of full-time employees. Each year, we conduct a survey of quarrying known as the Annual Minerals Raised Inquiry, which is sent to all quarries having extant planning permission, for the purpose of determining the amount of material being quarried. Over the period 1990 to 2000, the number of such quarries dealing with either stone or sand and gravel declined slightly from around 1,780 to around 1,710. However, over the same period, the number of people present within quarries and covered by the provisions of the Mines and Quarries Acts 1954 and 1969 declined in these quarries by some 40 per cent. from around 31,500 to around 18,000.