To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many licences were held by private licensed mines on 31 March and in May in (a) south Wales, (b) the remainder of the United Kingdom and (c) the United Kingdom; and how many miners were employed at these dates. [37628]

[holding answer 19 October 1995]: The Coal Authority informs me that:(a) the numbers of licensed underground mines were as follows:

	At 31March1995	At 31 May 1995	At 18 October1995
Great Britain
Licensed by British Coal under section 36(2)(a) of the Coal Industry nationalisation Act 1946	1140	24	24
Licensed by the Secretary of State/Coal Authority under section 26 of the Coal Industry Act 1994	18	63	71
Total	1158	87	95
South Wales
Licensed by British Coal under section 36(2)(a) of the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946	87	5	5
Licensed by the Secretary of State/Coal Authority under section 26 of the Coal Industry Act 1994	1	33	39
Total	88	38	44
1 Includes 115 mines whose licences expired on that date, about half of which were not producing coal at that time.

(b) while precise figures are not available, employment at these underground mines has remained at around 10,500 for Great Britain and 700 for South Wales.