HC Deb 01 June 1934 vol 290 cc541-4

Resolution reported, That it is expedient— (1) to authorise the payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of such sums as may be necessary for securing that if, in the case of any month falling between the end of March, nineteen hundred and thirty-four, and the beginning of April, nineteen hundred and thirty-six, the cheese-milk price for the month, as certified by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Secretary of State for Scotland, is less than the standard price for the month, the Minister within the meaning of the Agricultural Marketing Act, 1931 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Minister'), shall, in certain circumstances, pay to the board administering any scheme under that Act for regulating the marketing of milk (hereinafter referred to as 'a milk marketing scheme') a sum not exceeding the difference between the two prices aforesaid, in respect of each gallon of milk produced in the area to which the scheme applies with respect to which the Minister is satisfied—

  1. (a) that, having been delivered on the sale thereof by a registered producer otherwise than to the board or on the sale thereof by the board, it has, in that month, been used (elsewhere than at a farm) in manufacturing cream, butter, cheese, milk powder, or condensed milk; or
  2. (b) that it has, in that month, been used by the board in manufacturing cream, butter, cheese, milk powder, or condensed milk; or
  3. (c) that, having been produced by a registered producer, it has, in that month, been used by him in manufacturing cheese at a farm in his occupation;
(2) to provide for requiring that if, in the case of any month falling between the end of March, nineteen hundred and thirty-six, and the beginning of April, nineteen hundred and thirty-eight, the cheese-milk price for the month, as so certified, exceeds by more than one penny the standard price for the month, the board administering any milk marketing scheme shall pay to the Minister a sum equal to the difference between the standard price for the month, increased by one penny, and the cheese-milk price for the month, as so certified, in respect of each gallon of such milk used in manufacturing cream, butter, cheese, milk powder, or condensed milk, as Parliament may hereafter in the present Session determine; and for requiring the Minister to pay into the Exchequer all sums paid to him as aforesaid by any such board; so, however, that a board shall not be liable to pay as aforesaid any sum in excess of the aggregate of the sums which have become payable to that hoard in accordance with paragraph (1) of this Resolution; (3) to provide for securing that, as respects any payments payable or paid in manner hereinbefore provided to or by the board administering a milk marketing scheme, the board administering any milk marketing scheme which revokes the first-mentioned scheme shall be treated as if it were the board administering that scheme; and for securing that, in the event of the winding-up of the board administering any milk marketing scheme, the amount of any sums which have become payable to that board in accordance with paragraph (1) of this Resolution (less the amount of any sums paid by that board in accordance with paragraph (2) of this Resolution) shall, in certain circumstances, be deemed to be a debt due from the board to the Crown; (4) to authorise the payment, in certain circumstances, out of moneys provided by Parliament to the Government of Northern Ireland—
  1. (a) of a sum not exceeding two hundred thousand pounds in respect of milk produced in Northern Ireland which has, in the year beginning on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and thirty-four, been used in manufacturing cream or butter at premises registered under any Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland relating to the marketing of dairy produce; and
  2. (b) of such sum (if any) as may be agreed between the Treasury and the Grovernment of Northern Ireland in respect of milk so produced which has, in the year beginning on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, been so used as aforesaid;
 and to provide for the repayment, m certain circumstances, to the Exchequer of any sums paid to the said Government in accordance with this paragraph; (5) to authorise the payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of sums not exceeding in the aggregate seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds, to be applied by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Secretary of State for Scotland, respectively, during a period of four consecutive years, with the object of securing, so far as practicable, that the milk supplied for human consumption in Great Britain is pure and free from the infection of any disease; and to provide for requiring boards administering milk marketing schemes to make payments after the end of that period to registered producers in respect of milk produced by them in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the Minister with that object; (6) to authorise the payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of sums not exceeding in the aggregate one million pounds, to be applied by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Secretary of State for Scotland, for the purpose of making to boards administering milk marketing schemes contributions not exceeding one-half of such expenses incurred by the boards respectively in giving effect to approved arrangements for increasing the demand for milk, as are attributable to any time before the end of two years from the day on which the first such arrangement as aforesaid are approved; and to provide for treating as part of the expenses incurred by the board administering any milk marketing scheme in giving effect to such arrangements as aforesaid, such sum as may be certified by the Minister, with the approval of the Treasury, to be properly payable to the board by way of compensation by reason of the fact that milk has, in pursuance of the arrangements, been sold at reduced prices for certain specified purposes; (7) To provide for extending the functions of boards administering milk marketing schemes; (8) to provide for regulating the manner in which milk is described for the purposes of advertisement and sale; (9) to provide for such matters as are incidental to, or consequential on, the matters hereinbefore mentioned; For the purposes of this Resolution—
  1. (a) the cheese-milk price for any month shall be taken to be the excess over one penny three-farthings of the average price per pound at which cheese such as is commonly known as "New Zealand finest white" and "Canadian finest white" was sold wholesle in Great Britain during the immediately pro-ceding month; and
  2. (b) the standard price for any month falling between the end of March in any year and the beginning of the next following October shall be taken to be five-pence, and the standard price for any month falling between the end of September in any year and the beginning of the next following April shall be taken to be sixpence.

Resolution agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in upon the said Resolution by Mr. Elliot, Sir John Gilmour, Sir Godfrey Collins, Mr. Hacking, and Mr. Skelton.

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