Coal Mines Act 1930
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to provide for regulating and facilitating the production, supply and sale of coal by owners of coal mines; for the temporary amendment of section three of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1908; for the constitution and functions of a Coal Mines National Industrial Board; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation20 & 21 Geo. 5. c. 34
Dates
Royal assent1 August 1930
Other legislation
Repealed byCoal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946
Status: Repealed

The Coal Mines Act 1930 (20 & 21 Geo. 5. c. 34) was an act of Parliament which introduced a system of quotas in the coal mining industry of Great Britain. It was a major achievement of the Labour Party, which revoked the eight hour day that had been enacted in 1926, replacing it with a 7 12 hour day. Mine owners were allowed to fix quotas and minimum prices. Theoretically, the new commission was to plan to close less-efficient pits, but it was not effective. Historian A. J. P. Taylor says that:

on the contrary, the act protected the inefficient. It operated restriction and stable prices at the expense of the consumer. Here was the pattern for British capitalism in the thirties.[1]

References

  1. ^ Taylor, A. J. P. (1965). English History 1914-1945. p. 279.

Further reading