LESS COAL FOR INDUSTRY

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25083, 15 January 1947, Page 7

LESS COAL FOR INDUSTRY

CUT ANNOUNCED IN BRITAIN “ LESS ESSENTIAL ” UNDERTAKINGS „ .. LONDON, Jan. 13 ,® eaa f use the ! n . creased consumpthf o -? 0 ? 1 ’ especially for electricity, .Government has decided t? i jV half allocations to less egsen- !!“ i ndd 5 n ® s - S id the President of CripiSl d ° f Tfade <Sir staflord Industries engaged on work of national importance, however, would thpm V Tr, addlt '° nal su PPhes to enable tpem to carry on. h-P 16 . scheme, which becomes operawXeks m a ’? e ih last &r si * th^ r su S p‘X rd fo? iP e P I S ectrlcT aS, g3Kot MS gas undertakings, in fact, would reeeiwe more coal than before The Minister said that coal produc--ITOnnTtn nOW sh ° win g an increase of 170,000 tons weekly compared with the same period last year. He exalthough allocations to industry would be halved under the sc heme, it would not mean that Y£ Uld u e S ei y e only half the supplies they had been receiving The regional fuel boards, dufing the recent critical months, had not been able to meet the allocations. Now the allocations would be made on a more reahstic scale which the fuel boards should be able to meet. Industry, altogether, could expect to get 87 per cent, of the supplies it received during November. 0 ■

Sir Stafford Cripps said that the decision on which were “less essential” industries or thpse of “national importance” would be left to the regional fuel boards. The Government had decided against ending supplies to industries engaged on the production of luxury goods as it would mean throwing thousands out of employment for only a small saving of coal. Such industries were mainly dependent on electricity. He hoped that the cuts would not greatly increase unemployment. However. some workers would probably suffer short hours. He admitted that the export drive might be affected by the new scheme. Answering a question, he expressed the opinion that the motor industry would not be classified as of national importance and thus would not receive extra supplies of coal.