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Mr. Eggar : Breakdowns of coal imports by port of entry, and by country of origin, for the last four years and for the current year to date, are as follows :
|1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |<1>1992
------------------------------------------------------------------
Port of entry
Medway |565 |652 |855 |1,989 |2,249
Immingham |999 |1,268 |2,182 |3,177 |2,206
Middlesbrough |2,570 |2,812 |2,385 |2,894 |1,914
Port Talbot |1,997 |2,610 |2,885 |2,655 |1,716
London (including
Tilbury) |743 |782 |2,104 |3,016 |1,596
Greenock |1,164 |1,162 |1,027 |1,209 |1,363
Liverpool |31 |286 |948 |1,308 |1,152
Belfast |192 |182 |332 |387 |536
Hull |1 |44 |152 |416 |322
Cardiff |294 |229 |410 |491 |292
Swansea |92 |134 |162 |422 |140
Others |3,036 |1,975 |1,340 |1,527 |983
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
Total |11,685 |12,137 |14,783 |19,491 |14,469
Country of origin
United States of
America<2> |4,073 |4,874 |6,176 |8,132 |5,375
Australia<2> |3,416 |2,676 |3,044 |4,654 |3,304
Colombia<2> |574 |874 |1,506 |2,447 |2,505
Canada |553 |729 |986 |760 |653
South Africa |276 |346 |356 |579 |621
Poland |1,270 |1,055 |1,043 |557 |588
USSR |375 |181 |592 |900 |574
China |319 |450 |69 |294 |162
Germany<3> |191 |288 |249 |220 |160
Venezuela |92 |86 |169 |230 |160
Belgium |122 |78 |60 |231 |12
Others<2> |425 |501 |533 |488 |354
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
Total |11,685 |12,137 |14,783 |19,491 |14,469
Because of rounding the sum of the constituent items may not
agree with the totals shown.
<1> January to August.
<2> Some imports previously recorded by Customs and Excise as
originating in the Netherlands have been re-allocated to the
other countries indicated or, where revised country or origin
data is not available, included in the residual entry "Others".
This re-allocation has been carried out for 1991 and estimates of
such imports previously classified to the Netherlands have been
included for 1990. Figures for earlier years have not been
re-allocated to individual countries.
<3> Includes imports previously recorded separately for the
German Democratic Republic.
Source: Customs and Excise.
Coal Stocks
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what plans he has to sell existing coal stocks (a) in the EEC and (b) outside the EEC at a reduced price to ease the burden on the Exchequer ;
(2) what proposals he has to auction the entire stock of coal above ground to the highest overseas bidder.
Mr. Eggar : The sale of coal stocks is a matter for the owners of the stocks. More generally as my right hon. Friend indicated to the House on 21 October, I will report on the level of coal stocks and whether plans to run them down are sensibly phased as part of the current review of coal policy.
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Flynn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to re-examine the recommendations numbered 13, 23, 36, 43, 44, 45, 48 and 49 in the second report of the Energy Committee, Session 1991-92, on the consequences of electricity privatisation.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend announced on 26 October, Official Report, columns 522-23, the scope of the review which we will be conducting of the proposed closure of 21 pits, within the context of the Government's energy policy.
Divisional Papers
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list, for the last 12 months, the titles of papers published by the heads of division of (a) the business task force 1, (b) the companies investigation branch, (c) the competition policy division, (d) the financial services division, (e) the insurance division, (f) the manufacturing technology division and (g) the telecommunications and posts division, respectively.
Mr. Eggar : The details are as follows :
Business Task Force 1
None
Companies Investigation Branch
(Investigations under section 432(2) of the Companies Act 1985) The Milford Docks Company
BOM Holdings plc.
Blue Arrow plc.
Competition Policy Division
(Various Monopolies and Mergers Commission reports)
Havas/Brunton Curtis
Unichem/McCarthy and Lloyds/McCarthy
AAH Holdings/Medicopharma
Hillsdown/ABF
Allied Lyons/Carlsberg
Sara Lee Corporation/Reckitt and Colman
Bond/British Helicopters
Scottish and Universal Newspapers Ltd./Trinity International Holdings plc.
EMAP/United Newspapers
Supply of Indirect Electrostatic Photocopiers
Supply of Cross Solent Ferry Services
Supply of Matches and Disposable Lighters
Supply of New Motor Cars
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Supply of Motor Car PartsTelevision Broadcasting Services
The Commonwealth Development Corporation
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Insurance Division
Insurance Annual Report 1991
(Consultative documents)
Implementation in the United Kingdom of the Second Council Directive on Direct Life Assurance
Implementation in the United Kingdom of the EC Council Directive on the accounts of insurance undertakings
Implementation in the United Kingdom of Council directive 90/618/EEC of 8 November 1990, amending Directives 73/239/EEC and 88/357/EEC, particularly as regards Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance
Implementation in the United Kingdom of Second Council Directive on Direct Life Insurance--The Life Services Directive--Draft Regulations Manufacturing Technology Division
Industrial Materials for the Future? (Jointly sponsored by SERC and DTI)
Five-year Forward Look for Measurement Technology and Standards Work in Materials
(Papers were also circulated to consult industry on EC proposals to remove technical barriers to trade, and to inform industry of new or impending Directives and UK regulations to implement them). Telecommunications and Posts Division
(Consultative documents)
Telecommunications Terminal Equipment : Draft UK Regulations
The Satellite Broadcasting of Television Signals Regulations 1992 : Draft UK Regulations Responsibility for the former DTI financial services division was transferred to Her Majesty's Treasury earlier this year.
Publicity and promotional publications excluded.
Much of the Business Task Force 1 has been subsumed within the Department's Environment Division, and the Manufacturing Technology Division within the Information and Manufacturing Technology Division.
Coal Exports
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for each port in the United Kingdom, the tonnages of coal exports by year for the last four years ; and what were the points of destination.
Mr. Eggar : Breakdowns of coal exports by port and by country of destination, for the last four years and for the current year to date, are as follows :
Exports by port |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |<1>1992
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Swansea |277 |187 |410 |616 |189
Sunderland |39 |78 |82 |149 |71
Irish Land Boundary |90 |81 |95 |117 |63
Leith (including Granton) |90 |99 |213 |118 |56
Blyth |392 |442 |192 |279 |52
Workington |326 |242 |108 |32 |38
Tyne |270 |607 |869 |285 |33
Others |255 |336 |338 |217 |156
|------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |1,737 |2,072 |2,307 |1,813 |658
Country of destination |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |<1>1992
------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Irish Republic |359 |331 |248 |268 |154
France |256 |210 |271 |346 |102
Belgium |13 |46 |103 |106 |95
Spain |- |33 |138 |256 |81
Denmark |426 |521 |366 |175 |60
Norway |106 |128 |145 |73 |55
Germany<2> |107 |93 |214 |244 |48
Portugal |170 |154 |190 |118 |33
Morocco |144 |282 |282 |103 |11
Others |155 |274 |351 |124 |18
|------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |1,737 |2,072 |2,307 |1,813 |658
<1> January to August.
<2> Included imports previously recorded separately for the German Democratic Republic.
Source: Customs and Excise
Because of rounding the sum of the constituent items may not agree with the totals shown.
RECHAR
Mr. Wigley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects the initial instalment of RECHAR programme moneys to be specifically allocated to the projects ; and if he will make a statement on the reasons for the delay in the payments.
Mr. Sainsbury : In accordance with the standard procedure for the European Community structural funds, the allocation is made by 11 area committees, each of which includes central and local government and European Commission representatives. So far, grant of £11.6 million has been committed to 129 projects, and a further £29.5 million of grant has been approved in principle to 359 projects. Further committee meetings will be held shortly.
In accordance with the standard procedures grant is, for financial control reasons, not generally paid on to final beneficiaries until they certify their own expenditure. So far grant of £96,000 has been paid to two projects.
Nuclear Industry
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what criteria he has used in his Department's monthly publication, Energy Trends, to exclude natural uranium, enriched uranium and plutonium from the table of imports and exports of fuels.
Mr. Eggar : The exclusion of natural uranium, enriched uranium and plutonium from the data on imports and exports of fuels in Energy Trends follows internationally accepted practices for the compilation of energy statistics. There are difficulties in compiling aggregate energy statistics that include nuclear fuels, including the technical problems associated with converting data to a common unit of measurement that can be compared with other fuels.
Clean Coal Technology
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what investments his Department, and predecessor Departments, have made annually since 1979, to support research, development and demonstration projects in clean coal technology ; and if he will make a statement on the criteria adopted in deciding upon investment.
Mr. Eggar : The estimated annual investment by my Department and the former Department of Energy in support of coal research and development is as follows:
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1991 prices
|£ million
------------------------------
1979-80 |5.3
1980-81 |5.7
1981-82 |8.3
1982-83 |6.0
1983-84 |5.3
1984-85 |1.3
1985-86 |1.1
1986-87 |2.5
1987-88 |1.7
1988-89 |1.1
1989-90 |2.2
1990-91 |11.8
1991-92 |5.1
Total public sector expenditure on coal R and D over the period 1981-92 was approximately £1,000 million, at 1991 prices, of which around half was associated with the development of clean coal technology.
The Department's coal R and D programme is primarily focussed on the development of new clean coal technologies that improve the environmental performance of coal utilisation. The criteria for assessing the desirability of specific project proposals are set out within a document prepared by the Department's coal task force in August 1991. Factors include the degree of novelty, relevance to the overall objectives of the R and D programme, and the potential for exploitability. If the objective of the work is commercial, the potential benefit to United Kingdom company competitiveness is also taken into account.
Natural Gas
Mr. Bayley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what quantity of natural gas is currently consumed annually in the United Kingdom (a) by electricity generators and (b) by other customers ; and what quantity his Department estimates will be consumed by electricity generators and other customers in (a) 1995, (b) 2000, (c) 2010, (d) 2020, (e) 2030, (f) 2040 and (g) 2050, respectively.
Mr. Eggar : Natural gas sales to (a) electricity generators and (b) other customers in 1991 and for the first half of 1992 in Gigawatt hours were as follows :
|Electricity |Other customers
|generators
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1991 |13,686 |581,072
1992 (January-June) |7,239 |305,556
Source: Energy Trends (Table 9).
An indication of the likely range of gas requirements in some possible future energy scenarios can be obtained from "Energy Paper No. 59", which was recently published by this Department. A copy of this paper has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Bayley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what quantity of natural gas in the British sector of the North sea his Department estimates (a) is in gas fields currently being exploited, (b) is in gas fields identified as economically exploitable but not currently being exploited and (c) is yet to be discovered in economically exploitable gas fields.
Mr. Eggar : My Department's most recent estimate of recoverable gas reserves remaining in the United Kingdom
Column 679
were published in the Brown Book-- "Development of the Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom"--in April 1992. Reserves so far identified as economically exploitable are as follows :
Billion cubic metres
|Proven |Proven plus probable|Maximum possible
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fields in production and
approved for development |540 |805 |985
Other discovered fields
identified as
economically
exploitable |0 |430 |820
|----- |----- |-----
Total |540 |1,235 |1,805
In addition, reserves in unappraised discoveries and undrilled prospects are estimated at between 395 and 1,557 billion cu m.
Electricity Costs
Mr. Jon Owen Jones : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the current costs of producing a unit of electricity by (a) coal, (b) gas, (c) nuclear and (d) wind, respectively : and what are the projected costs over the next decade.
Mr. Eggar : The comparable capital and full fuel costs per kilowatt- hour of power stations using coal, gas and nuclear fuels depend significantly upon the contractual terms of fuel purchase, and the contractual terms under which the power station is to be constructed and operated. These are commercial matters for the companies concerned. As far as electricity is concerned it is up to the Director General of Electricity Supply to ensure that the regional electricity companies comply with their economic purchasing obligations. My Department will, however, be assessing the evidence available on the comparative economics of coal as against other sources as part of the Government's review.
Cost data for wind energy are likely to be given in the report of the Renewable Energy Advisory Group, which I hope to receive shortly, and which I expect to be published soon afterwards.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the cost of electricity for manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom and in each of the other European Community countries.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 26 October 1992] : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 26 October, Official Report, columns 518-20.
Boreholes
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will direct British Coal to provide information to the British Geological Survey about its 1958 to 1965 and 1973 to 1985 drilling programmes to establish the undersea extension of the Northumberland and Durham coalfield ; and if he will ensure that the academic community has access to this information.
Column 680
Mr. Eggar : I understand that British Coal already provides information to the British Geological Survey in accordance with statutory requirements.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information he has on the number of boreholes drilled between Acklington Whin Dyke and the Grange Park fault in the Northumberland and Durham coalfield ; and if he will list the borehole numbers, their co- ordinates, the coal sections and the depths to each coal section.
Mr. Eggar : The Department does not keep information on boreholes. This is a matter for British Coal.
Sectoral Divisions
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the sectoral divisions he has created in his Department ; for each what are their current work programme priorities and recent contacts ; and if he will list the studies, projects and research reports they have commissioned.
Mr. Eggar : In the reorganisation of the Department which my right hon. Friend announced on 3 July he said that the Department would be adopting a more directly sectoral approach in the industries for which it is responsible. Seven new sectoral divisions were created to cover the key sectors not previously dealt with in this way : Chemicals and biotechnology
Steel, metals and minerals
Vehicles (also covering shipbuilding)
Aerospace
Electronic and electrical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Textiles and retailing
The sectoral divisions, both new and old, have been given the explicit role of sponsoring their industries, not uncritically, but as the basis for an informed dialogue and a constructive partnership between the Government and business. In addition, the new industrial competitiveness division is examining what lessons can be learnt from the leading industrialised countries and ensuring that policies of all Government Departments take due account of the need to promote the competitiveness of United Kingdom industry and commerce. All sectoral divisions are taking forward my right hon. Friend's initiative and developing their contacts with their industries. My right hon. Friend will be reviewing their current work priorities and progress made during the MINIS discussions which he will be holding with his officials over the next few months.
Halons
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what research or evaluations his Department has conducted or commissioned on new gases which could replace ozone-destroying halons in fire-fighting applications ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : None. My Department and the Department of the Environment are willing to consider requests from industry for support for collaborative research into alternative gases and technologies. However, halons are only one of five commonly used fire extinguishing media and many businesses are finding that they can use water, foam, powder or CO instead.
Column 681
Electricity
Mr. Jack Thompson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total capacity of electricity supplied to the United Kingdom from French sources in the years 1990, 1991 and to the third quarter of 1992.
Mr. Eggar : The quantity of electricity supplied to the United Kingdom from French sources in the years 1990, 1991 and in the first three quarters of 1992 is set out in the table.
|Electricity supplied
|from France
|(Gigawatt hours)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1990 |11,990
1991 |16,422
First three quarters of 1992 |12,412
Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics and Energy Trends.
Mr. Jack Thompson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total capacity of electricity suplied to France from United Kingdom sources in the years 1990, 1991 and to the third quarter of 1992.
Mr. Eggar : The quantity of electricity supplied to France from United Kingdom sources in the years 1990, 1991 and in the first three quarters of 1992 is set out in the table.
|Electricity supplied
|to France (Gigawatt
|hours)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1990 |47
1991 |15
First three quarters of 1992 |20
Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics and Energy Trends.
Pit Closures
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the cost to the Government of maintaining output at the 31 pits scheduled in his announcement of 13 October to be closed ; whether this includes the market value of the coal being stockpiled ; and whether he will publish a table showing exactly how the £100 million per month referred to in that announcement is made up by item of expenditure.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 27 October 1992] British Coal has said that it cannot expect to sell more than 40 million tonnes of coal to the electricity supply industry next year. This is 25 million tonnes less than in the current year.
The cash operating costs of the pits concerned are about £100 million per month. This excludes stocking costs.
The coal produced could only be sold at distressed prices, over an extended period, if at all.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many pits have been subject to the consultative review procedure on redundancies in the last decade ; and how many have remained open following the review.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 26 October 1992] : The issue which the hon. Member has raised is a matter for British Coal.
Column 682
Mr. Pike : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will request National Power and PowerGen to announce no further station closures during the moratorium on pit closures ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The procedure governing power station closures by National Power and PowerGen is prescribed by a licence condition. The Director General of Electricity Supply announced last week that he has decided to appoint an independent assessor to examine the issues in relation to their power station closures.
Power Stations
Mr. Spearing : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the expected rate of depletion of reserves of natural gas within United Kingdom or European Community ownership, at those volumes of gas contracted to be burned by gas-powered power stations in operation, or likely to be approved, stated in approximate volume, time and percentage terms.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 22 October 1992] My Department's latest estimates of United Kingdom gas reserves are set out in the Brown Book "Development of Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom". The rate at which gas reserves are depleted will depend on many factors including demand, development costs, prices, levels of imports and technological developments. I am not aware of any plans to import gas from European Community countries.
As my right hon. Friend told the House on 21 October, we will be producing for the House the conclusions we draw from our estimates of reserves, and will report on the scale of gas-generated power stations in production, in build and in the planning process.
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