Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of increased domestic supply of coal on levels of coal imports.

Domestic production of coal, alongside the amounts of coal imported in the UK, have been steadily declining in the last five years. This is evidenced by the figures published by the Department here: DUKES table 2.4.

In order to tackle climate change and deliver a net zero economy by 2050, we need to further reduce our use of coal. We are among the first countries in the world to commit to closing all unabated coal power plants. We intend to do this by 2024.