asked the Minister for Energy if the minimum critical level of coal stocks of 7 million tons, stated in his weekly energy statement of 10th January, refers to the period before or after the settlement of the power engineers' dispute ; and if he will state the other appropriate minimum level of stocks.
The statement of the minimum critical level of coal stocks, estimated at about 7 million tons, refers to the period both before and after
| Week ending | Consumption | Deliveries | Stock change | |||||
| 1972 | 1973 | 1972 | 1973 | 1972 | 1973 | |||
| 4th/3rd November | … | … | 1·38 | 1·73 | 1·51 | 1·47 | +0·13 | −0·26 |
| 11th/10th November | … | … | 1·41 | 1·79 | 1·53 | 1·54 | + 0·12 | −0·25 |
| 18th/17th November | … | … | 1·71 | 1·83 | 1·56 | 1·34 | −0·15 | −0·49 |
| 25th/24th November | … | … | 1·67 | 1·82 | 1·44 | 1·20 | −0·23 | −0·62 |
| 2nd/1st December | … | … | 1·65 | 2·11 | 1·60 | 1·12 | −0·05 | −0·99 |
| 9th/8th December | … | … | 1·68 | 1·96 | 1·62 | 1·18 | −0·06 | −0·78 |
| 16th/15th December | … | … | 1·60 | 1·89 | 1·63 | 1·16 | +0·03 | −0·73 |
| 23rd/22nd December | … | … | 1·64 | 1·57 | 1·52 | 1·15 | −0·12 | −0·42 |
| 30th/29th December | … | … | 1·28 | 0·92 | 0·70 | 0·37 | −0·58 | −0·55 |
asked the Minister for Energy what were the coal stocks at the end of September, October, November and December of 1973.
Undistributed stocks were 13·3, 13·2, 12·0 and 10·8 million tons respectively ; stocks at power stations were 20·3, 19·6, 18·0 and 14·5 million tons respectively. Information on coal stocks is published monthly in "Trade and Industry" and in the "Monthly Digest of Statistics" and weekly Press notices issued by the Department of Energy give the most recent information on levels of stocks.
asked the Minister for Energy what has been the level of coal stocks, respectively, at pitheads and at power stations each week between 1st November and the succeeding 28th February during each of the last five years.
| Stocks(million tons) | Output(million tons) | ||||||
| Power Stations | National Coal Board | ||||||
| Week ending | 1973 | 1972 | 1973 | 1972 | 1973 | 1972 | |
| 3rd November | … | 19·3 | 17·2 | 13·1 | 10·2 | 2·5 | 2·9 |
| 10th November | … | 19·1 | 17·4 | 12·9 | 10·3 | 2·5 | 2·9 |
| 17th November | … | 18·6 | 17·2 | 12·5 | 10·4 | 2·0 | 2·9 |
| 24th November | … | 18·0 | 17·0 | 12·0 | 10·7 | 2·0 | 3·0 |
| 1st December | … | 17·0 | 16·9 | 11·8 | 10·8 | 1·9 | 3·0 |
| 8th December | … | 16·2 | 16·9 | 11·5 | 10·9 | 1·9 | 3·0 |
| 15th December | … | 15·5 | 16·9 | 11·3 | 11·0 | 1·9 | 3·0 |
| 22nd December | … | 15·1 | 16·8 | 10·9 | 10·9 | 1·8 | 2·8 |
| 29th December | … | 14·5 | 16·2 | 10·8 | 10·8 | 0·4 | 0·9 |
| 5th January 1974 | … | 13·9 | 15·7 | 10·7 | 10·7 | 0·8 | 1·9 |
the settlement of the power engineers' dispute. This level represents the point at which disconnections of supply become inevitable.
asked the Minister for Energy what was the amount of coal used for power generation in each week of November and December in 1972 and 1973, the quantities delivered and the reduction of stocks which applied in each of these months in both years.
For CEGB and SSEB power stations in Great Britain the figures are as follows:
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table of figures giving the actual or estimated stocks of all types of coal at the pit heads, power stations and other storage places in the week preceding the commencement of the miners' dispute and the weekly coal output, and similar details for each of the weeks of the dispute ; and how these figures compare with similar dates in 1972.
Information on weekly coal stocks is published in the Department of Trade and Industry's "Weekly Statistical Statement" and earlier versions of that statement for the period including November 1968 through February 1973. Information from the week ending 3rd November 1973 is given below:
Recorded stocks at other storage places (mainly coke ovens) were about 2 million tons throughout the period.
The most up-to-date information on coal stocks and output will be published in the weekly Press release of the Department of Energy. Copies are held in the Library of the House.