asked the Minister of Power if he will indicate the nature of the official discussions which took place between his Department and the National Coal Board prior to the announcement of extensive pit closures on 18th November, 1965.

The discussions were concerned with the general scale of closures, their economic and social consequences and the action being taken by the Government and the National Coal Board to redeploy the men concerned. I made a full statement on all these matters in the debate on the Second Reading of the Coal Industry Bill yesterday.