The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.
Mr. Gordon Wilson
asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give an estimate of the respective cost of safety measures for coal mines in each of the following countries: Great Britain, France, West Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland and Spain.
Mr. Harold Walker
I have been asked to reply.I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Energy gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon (Mr. Woof) on 22nd November—[Vol. 919, c. 825]—which dealt with expenditure in Great Britain under the complementary headings of efficiency and safety. I am advised by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the collection of comparable information for the other countries could be undertaken only at unreasonable cost.