asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will submit statistics to show the relative production of coal results as between working an extra half hour each day and working on Saturday mornings.

Mr. Athens:

No firm conclusions on this matter can be drawn from the available statistics.

May I ask whether it is not of the greatest importance to the country, to the House and to the export of coal that conclusions should be drawn? There has been a conflict of opinion on this matter.

The hon. and gallant Gentleman will note my reply. I said, "no firm conclusions" could be drawn. I can tell him that in the collieries working an extra half hour some 300,000 tons more have been produced in the last 22 weeks and from the other collieries something like 3.6 million tons more have been produced. As the hon. and gallant Gentleman is probably aware, conditions vary considerably from coalfield to coalfield and from pit to pit.

The hon. Gentleman has not answered the Question. He has not stated whether he will publish the figures or not. May I ask him to impress on his right hon. Friend to publish these figures, and, in so doing, to bear in mind the fact that unless the stint is increased when the extra half hour is worked he figures are meaningless? This requires a lead from the Government, and I suggest that they should reconsider this matter very carefully.

Is the hon. Gentleman going to answer that very difficult question, or is this a matter on which the Government refuse to give any information?

I was deferring my answer in courtesy to other hon. Members in case they wanted to ask further supplementaries. This is a matter between the Coal Board—[HON. MENIBER s: "Oh."] Are hon. Gentlemen suggesting that we should impose conditions on the National Union of Mineworkers as to how their members should work? It is a matter between the National Coal Board and the National Union of Mineworkers as to how extra hours should be worked, and that is a position which the Government intend to stand by.

Would the hon. Gentleman be so good as to let us have the information on which we can base our opinion.

Hon. Members:

Answer.

Is the Minister aware that the miners have answered the question by an increased overall output during the last 12 months?

Would the Parliamentary Secretary be good enough to give me an answer to the question I put—whether these figures will be made available to the House so that we can form an opinion?

The figures which I have given, and which are average figures, will be in HANSARD tomorrow.

Is that the only information that the Minister proposes to offer to the House in answer to this Question?

If I am lucky in the matter, I shall raise this question on the Adjournment.