Coal

HC Deb 21 July 2004 vol 424 cc288-9W

Tom Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total tonnage of coal mined in England and Wales was during the last 12 months for which figures are available. [185336]

Mr. Timms

The information available on the amount of coal produced in England and Wales for the 12 months ended March 2004, in millions of tonnes, is as follows:

		Tonnes million
	Deep mine	Opencast
England	14.1	3.7
Wales	0.6	1.1

A further 6.8 million tonnes, all from opencast mines, was produced in Scotland in the same period. Source: Coal Authority data as published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, 2004 to be published on 29 July 2004 and accessible through the DTI website. Output is the tonnage declared by operators to the Coal Authority, including estimated tonnages.