Heseltine delays the publication of pits White Paper

THE INTENSE difficulties facing Michael Heseltine, President of the Board of Trade, in finding a solution to the pits closure crisis were again highlighted yesterday as it emerged that his White Paper is unlikely to be published until after the Budget on 16 March.

The continued changes in the publication date of the paper underline the scale of the problem, caused by the refusal of the electricity generators, National Power and PowerGen, to bow to Mr Heseltine's demand that they buy more coal, and the refusal of ministers to create a larger market for the fuel by cutting back on nuclear and gas-fired electricity generation.

However, other delaying factors were mooted yesterday. The time-lag means that the National Union of Mineworkers will have completed its planned strike ballot - due to begin on Friday - over the coal fiasco.

'It puts Heseltine in a no lose situation; if there's a strike, the miners will lose sympathy; and if they don't strike there's no problem,' a Labour MP said.

There may also be knock-on effects on the Government's plans to designate assisted areas to receive government and European Community aid. The new assisted areas map will not be drafted until at least three weeks after the announcement on the future of the pits. It must then go to the European Commission for agreement.

It is possible that the map will not be announced until after the county council elections on 6 May - a not inconvenient upshot for the Government. By mid-March it will have received the final report by J T Boyd, the American consultants, on the 10 most threatened mines. But ministers still maintain that the closure of the 10, which was not addressed in the Government's energy review, is not affected by the White Paper.

There is speculation that ministers will be forced to reconsider cutting electricity imports from France, which displace up to 7 million tonnes of coal a year. But a source at the Department of Trade and Industry said that meddling with French imports could carry huge financial penalties and that this solution 'remains under the 'too difficult' heading'.

National Power and PowerGen have already offered to buy about 40 million tonnes of coal over the next five years in addition to their previously planned purchases.

The Government is pressing for more, as that amount would save only around half a dozen mines and would be unlikely to avert a backbench rebellion or a public outcry.

The generators, which are still 40 per cent owned by the Government, have been threatened with legislation to force them to buy the coal.

Neil Clarke, the chairman of British Coal, has called for the Government not to rely on stockpiling as a way to save mines.