asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how many of his Department's local offices in Fife he proposes to close; the estimated annual saving expected from such closures; what protests he has received about this action; and the nature of the reply sent to those protesting.

Twenty, with a saving of £2,150 a year. So far, five local authorities have objected and my officers are in discussion with them.

:Can the Minister say whether the local authorities or the trade unions were consulted before this policy was decided on? Can he further say how far the policy indicates the ending of the present system of fuel allocation; and thirdly, is he satisfied that the economies resulting from this policy are sufficient to offset the hardship which will be caused to old age pensioners and lower income group people, who will now have to have further recourse to the National Assistance Board for travelling expenses?

It is most important that we should make every effort to achieve economy in these rationing schemes when they persist, but it is not our intention to cause hardship. That is the reason why discussions with local authorities are now proceeding, and I hope that we shall be able to get an agreed solution in this part of the country, as in so many others.

:Would the Minister answer the first part of my supplementary question? Were the trade unions and local authorities consulted before action was taken?

:No, it is the responsibility of the Government to form a policy for the making of economies, but in the course of carrying out this policy we are consulting the local authorities concerned.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the number of registrations for domestic coal with the National Coal Board and private factors, respectively, for the County of Durham.

Thirty-nine thousand and 355,700.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power to state, for each National Coal Board division and for Great Britain as a whole the extent to which the board is the distributing agency for retail of domestic coal supplies; the extent to which this coal distribution by the board has increased since the passing of the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act, 1946; and how far it is his policy to encourage the board to acquire privately-owned domestic coal selling agencies.

This is primarily a matter for the National Coal Board under its powers accorded in the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act and over Great Britain as a whole, the National Coal Board's share of the domestic coal trade has increased during the last seven years by about one-tenth of 1 per cent.: it now stands at 2·9 per cent.

Is the Coal Board's retail distribution more economic than the privately-owned system of distribution? What difficulty prevents the taking over of this part of the distribution system?

I think that the efficiency of the various retail distribution systems will best be judged by the public themselves when, as we hope, price control and restrictions are soon done away with.

:Can the Minister say what is his answer to the last part of the Question?

I said that that was primarily a matter for the Coal Board.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what amount of the £203,773,258 compensation paid since 1947 to the previous owners of the coalmining industry represents interest payment.

None, Sir.

:The right hon. Gentleman has not answered my Question. Can he say whether the whole of this £203 million is chargeable to the industry? If that is so, will he confirm that without this charge the nationalised coal industry would have made a handsome profit since 1947?

I have answered the Question correctly, but the hon. Gentleman's supplementary is quite a different proposition.

:With great respect, the right hon. Gentleman has misunderstood the point. Is it not true that some part of the amount stated in the Question includes interest paid on the capital sum? Surely, it must do. Surely some interest has been paid.

No, Sir, not included in the figure that has been given.

I understand that £164 million was the valuation on the industry originally, but it is now more than £200 million. There must be some explanation.

:As the mining industry now belongs to the nation, can the Minister say what considerations the Government have given to this question of compensation being transferred from the mining industry and placed upon the Treasury?

We are proceeding under the Act passed by the last Government.

:Are we to take it, then, that no consideration is being given to this aspect of the matter?