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(b) Production of Tin in the Carn Brea Area in Cornwall
The Westwood Committee recommend that such production should be continued and that, for this purpose, the Minister of Supply should nego- tiate a new contract with the South Crofty Company. The Minister is now negotiating with the company on the lines recommended by the Committee. (c) Wolfram-tin Deposits at Hemerdon, near Plymouth.
The Westwood Committee recommend that further exploration should take place before the plant which was erected in 1942-43 to work the low- grade wolfram-tin deposits at Hemerdon, near Plymouth, is broken up or disposed of. The Minister of Supply agrees that the plant should be kept in working order, but there appears to be no case for further exploration at present. Supplies are sufficient for the next five years and tungsten can be bought without difficulty from abroad. Arrangements have, there- fore, been made for the plan to be kept on a care and maintenance basis. Production could, if necessary, be started at about two months' notice.
Summary of Recommendations
11. We, therefore, recommend that :—
(1) Legislation should be introduced in the next Parliament to vest in the State the ownership of all minerals specified in a Schedule to the Bill, this Schedule to be capable of amendment from time to time by Ministerial Order.
(2) A Mineral Development Commission should be established and should have, in addition to the powers recommended in the Westwood Report, power to exploit minerals and to own surface land. (3) The question which Minister should be responsible for the work of the Mineral Development Commission should be further considered, when a report has been received from the Government Organisation Committee.
(4) The question of the assessment and payment of mineral development charges should be further considered when a report has been received from the Minister of Town and Country Planning.
(5) The proposals for changes in mining taxation should be examined by
the Tucker Committee on the Taxation of Trading Profits.
(6) The Minister of Fuel and Power should inform the House of Commons, before the Summer Recess, that His Majesty's Government accept the main recommendations of the Westwood Report and will introduce the necessary legislation in due course.
Privy Council Office, S.W.1,
16th July, 1949.
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