PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
INFORMATION ON PIT CLOSURES (17 November 1992)

That this House demands that the President of the Board of Trade make known the information given to him by British Coal that led to his statement that the 10 pits currently in the 90-day statutory consultation period are uneconomic and have no prospect of being so; is concerned that the 7,000 men who work at these 10 colliers, their families and the wider public need to know the evidence which has decided their fate; notes that both the President of the Board of Trade and the Prime Minister have stated that these 10 collieries are not to be considered in the Government's review of energy policy, yet there is considerable evidence that a number of these pits are economically viable; believes that a simple assertion of the collective non-profitability of these collieries is not a sufficient basis for a decision of such magnitude but that it is imperative that British Coal prove its case by making public information on production costs, forecasts, reserves, recent investment, development work and markets on a pit by pit basis; and asserts that, if the case against these pits is so strong that they are to close, this information can no longer be regarded as commercially sensitive.

Sponsored by:
John Cummings (Labour)