asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will give figures showing the productivity of the north-east coalfield (a) over the last 12 months and (b) in 1982–83; and whether he will make a statement.

Average deep-mined revenue output per man shift in the North-East area during 1986–87 was 2·98 tonnes. This represents an impressive increase of 43 per cent. compared with the average of 2·09 tonnes during 1982–83.