Released April 01, 2015 | GALWAY, IRELAND
en
Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Two of only three deep pit coal mines in the U.K. face closure after the government refused to pay an extra £338 million ($499.6 million) to keep them open for a further three years.
The mines at Kellingley in North Yorkshire and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire now face closure by the end of the year, leaving the Hatfield mine in South Yorkshire as the only deep mine operating in the U.K..
Troubled mine owner U.K. Coal (Doncaster, England) had requested the loan in January "to facilitate the safe and orderly closure of its two deep coal mines by 2018". The company had already received a government loan of £10 million ($14.8 million) last April to allow the Kellingley and Thoresby mines reach their closure date of October. Around 1,300 jobs will be lost with the closures.
Matthew Hancock, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise and Energy, defended the decision: "Having carefully considered the case for providing significant additional funding, we have concluded that committing public sector funding on the scale necessary to extend the company's closure plan by three years is not affordable and does not represent value for money to the taxpayer. The £338 million requested approximates to a cost of more than £75,000 per U.K. Coal employee per year over the three year closure plan. The company has also recently indicated an additional funding requirement of £10 million to keep its existing managed closure plan for 2015 on track. The Government remains committed to support the company in its efforts to deliver this plan."
Responding to the decision Trade Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Immediate help for U.K. Coal workers and their families is welcome, but this announcement doesn't resolve the long-term problems facing the U.K. coal industry, in terms of both job and energy security. The government needs to find an alternative strategy that offers better energy and job security. Our E.U. competitors provide significant long-term state support for their mining industries, and here in the U.K. we should do the same."
The Hatfield coal mine won support from the government earlier this year when the government approved a loan of £8 million ($11.8 million) to allow the mine to continue operating until its scheduled closure in May 2016. The loan allowed the employee-owned Hatfield Colliery Partnership (HCPL) to develop a new seam and prevent the mine from going into immediate insolvency. For additional information, see January 14, 2015, article - U.K. Helps Doomed Hatfield Coal Mine.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.
The mines at Kellingley in North Yorkshire and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire now face closure by the end of the year, leaving the Hatfield mine in South Yorkshire as the only deep mine operating in the U.K..
Troubled mine owner U.K. Coal (Doncaster, England) had requested the loan in January "to facilitate the safe and orderly closure of its two deep coal mines by 2018". The company had already received a government loan of £10 million ($14.8 million) last April to allow the Kellingley and Thoresby mines reach their closure date of October. Around 1,300 jobs will be lost with the closures.
Matthew Hancock, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise and Energy, defended the decision: "Having carefully considered the case for providing significant additional funding, we have concluded that committing public sector funding on the scale necessary to extend the company's closure plan by three years is not affordable and does not represent value for money to the taxpayer. The £338 million requested approximates to a cost of more than £75,000 per U.K. Coal employee per year over the three year closure plan. The company has also recently indicated an additional funding requirement of £10 million to keep its existing managed closure plan for 2015 on track. The Government remains committed to support the company in its efforts to deliver this plan."
Responding to the decision Trade Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Immediate help for U.K. Coal workers and their families is welcome, but this announcement doesn't resolve the long-term problems facing the U.K. coal industry, in terms of both job and energy security. The government needs to find an alternative strategy that offers better energy and job security. Our E.U. competitors provide significant long-term state support for their mining industries, and here in the U.K. we should do the same."
The Hatfield coal mine won support from the government earlier this year when the government approved a loan of £8 million ($11.8 million) to allow the mine to continue operating until its scheduled closure in May 2016. The loan allowed the employee-owned Hatfield Colliery Partnership (HCPL) to develop a new seam and prevent the mine from going into immediate insolvency. For additional information, see January 14, 2015, article - U.K. Helps Doomed Hatfield Coal Mine.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.
