To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many beneficiaries of the national concessionary fuel agreement there are, broken down by those in receipt of (a) coal, (b) smokeless fuel and (c) cash in lieu of fuel. [11988]

At June 1997, the breakdown of national concessionary fuel agreement beneficiaries—that is, not including British Association of Colliery Management beneficiaries—under my Department' s liability was as follows: (a) 14,477 in receipt of coal; (b) 88,977 in receipt of smokeless fuel; (c) 63,242 in receipt of cash in lieu of fuel.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many concessionary fuel beneficiaries have a statutory entitlement which pre-dates the national concessionary fuel agreement. [11989]

At 7 July 1997, there were 793 beneficiaries receiving concessionary fuel under statutory entitlement—that is, under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946.