§ 26. Major Procterasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that the Milk Marketing Board are not carrying out their statutory obligations in declining to prosecute large distributors in the Accrington area who are now selling milk at 4d. a quart or 3d. per quart below the regional price, whereas a few weeks ago the Board fined the small retail-producers for selling milk at 6d. per quart; and whether he will take steps to see that the Board enforces the law and thus prevents the smaller producer-retailers from being forced out of business by subsidised price cutting?
§ Mr. W. S. MorrisonWhatever may be their contractual rights, I am not aware that the Milk Marketing Board are under any statutory obligation or that they have any statutory power to prosecute, or to impose penalties upon, distributors who sell milk at cut prices. As to the last part of the question, I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to previous answers given on this subject.
§ Major ProcterIf my right hon. Friend will read the Act, he will see that it says that the Board "shall" impose a penalty, not "may"; and is he aware that the Milk Marketing Board are not carrying out that Section of the Act?
§ Mr. MorrisonI think that my hon. and gallant Friend is under a slight misapprehension in this matter. The rights of the Milk Marketing Board as against the purchasers of milk wholesale are governed entirely by the terms of the contract, and it is the duty of the Milk Marketing Board to decide, as it would be in the case of any other person, whether they will commence civil proceedings for breach of contract. In the case of the relations between producer-retailers, on the other hand, and the Milk Marketing 1591 Board, these are statutory, and are enjoined in the scheme.