§ Mr. Denis MurphyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people have been employed in the coal mining industry from 1954 to date. [160939]
§ Mr. TimmsThe following table shows numbers of people employed underground in National Coal Board/ British Coal Corporation in each year from 1954 until privatisation in 1994. The figures for these years do not include for employment at private mines. The figures for 1995 onwards are for total number of different persons employed (including contractors) in all deep mines.
Opencast mine employment statistics are not readily available for the full period, but Coal Authority figures show that as at 31 December 2003, 2,175 people were employed in opencast mines, this figure having stood at 3,863 on 31 March 1996, at the end of the first year for which the authority maintained these records.
327W
Thousand Number of people employed in deep mines 1954 707 1955 704 1956 703 1957 710 1958 699 1959 665 1960 607 1961 575 1962 556 1963 528 1964 502 1965 455 1966 422 1967 390 1968 331 1969 306 1970 290 1971 286 1972 274 1973 252 1974 253 1975 252 1976 250 1977 248 1978 240 1979 242 1980 237 1981 172 1982 164 1983 148 1984 139 1985 114 1986 91 1987 75 1988 69 1989 56
Thousand Number of employed in deep mines 1990 49 1991 38 1992 28 1993 10 1994 7 1995 12 1996 10 1997 14 1998 11 1999 10 2000 9 2001 9 2002 8 2003 6 Source
Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics.