HC Deb 18 July 1927 vol 209 cc36-7W
Sir A. SINCLAIR

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs what has been the total amount of expenditure by the Empire Marketing Board an advertising Home-grown produce and Dominion and Colonial produce, respectively; how much has been spent on advertising Scottish produce; and how much has been spent upon advertisements in Scotland?

Mr. AMERY

It is not the policy of the Empire Marketing Board to draw any clear line between its expenditure on the advertising of home and oversea produce, or to allocate special sums to the advertising of the products of particular countries. I am, therefore, unable to give the particulars desired by my hon. Friend. As I have explained in answer to previous questions, the Board gives precedence to the claims of the home, including, of course, the Scottish producer.

In reply to the second part of the question, the information for which the hon. and gallant Member asks could not be ascertained without an amount of labour which I do not feel would be justified; and the information would in any case be misleading inasmuch as many newspapers published in England circulate widely in Scotland, and vice versa.

Mr. STEPHEN

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs the amount granted by the Empire Marketing Board to the Rowett Institute; and on what conditions and in what circumstances it has been granted?

Mr. AMERY

A grant of £2,000 per annum for five years for an investigation into the mineral contents of natural pastures has been made to the Rawett Institute, whose Director is also supervising a series of similar investigations in the Empire overseas. A grant of £3,000 per annum for two years has also been made to the Institute for a closely related research into certain dietetic questions which is being conducted chiefly in Kenya. In addition a capital grant of £2,000 and a maintenance grant of £500 per annum for five years have been made to the Institute to enable it to join in a scheme of poultry research, the centre of which will, however, be in Northern Ireland. The grants are in all cases made through the Board of Agriculture for Scotland.