To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in how many private mines registers are kept of the names and numbers of employees working underground; and if there have been (a) any warnings issued by Her Majesty's inspectors and (b) any prosecutions initiated in respect of the requirement to keep such registers.

All coal mines are required to keep registers of the numbers of persons going below ground and these are inspected as a matter of routine by the Health and Safety Executive's mines inspectors.There have been no warnings issued or prosecutions initiated in respect of failure to comply with this requirement in the past five years.