§ 15. Mr. Nabarroasked the Minister of Food what function is performed by the Eggs Division of his Department, as distinct from the function of the National Egg Distributors Association Limited; how many persons are employed in the Eggs Division; and what is the total cost per annum in salaries, expenses and general overheads of the Eggs Division.
§ Mr. F. WilleyThe Eggs Division is responsible for the purchase of imported and home-produced shell eggs and imported egg products, and for arranging their equitable distribution through trade channels to consumers. A total of 166 were employed in this Division on 1st July, 1950; the annual cost of their salaries and wages is £63,000. It is difficult to provide an accurate estimate of the general overheads for each Division of the Ministry, but the share of these overheads allocated to the Eggs Division is £724,000.
§ Mr. NabarroCould the Minister say what is achieved by this vast abracadabra of bureaucracy? In view of the fact that the majority of home-produced eggs arrive in grocers' shops in an unsatisfactory condition, will he not reconsider allowing farmers to sell their eggs direct to grocers, which will enable the housewife to get a newly laid egg again?
§ Mr. WilleyI think that if the hon. Member pauses to reflect that the retail value of eggs sold in 1949-50 was well nigh £90 million. he will conclude that his statement has rather exaggerated the position.
§ 16. Mr. Nabarroasked the Minister of Food how often, or at what intervals of time, home-produced eggs are collected from farmers, smallholders and other licensed primary producers by the egg packing and grading stations operated by his Department.
§ Mr. F. WilleyWe do all we can to see that the packers collect from producers at least weekly, but there may be 1837 producers in isolated areas who are not visited so frequently. If any such cases are brought to our notice we are always willing to see whether more frequent collections are possible and, accordingly, I should be glad if the hon. Member could let me have particulars of any cases which he may have in mind.
§ Mr. NabarroIs the Parliamentary Secretary aware that, over a very large number of cases in all parts of the United Kingdom, the facts have emerged that the minimum period for the collection of home-produced eggs is two weeks and that often it takes three weeks or more for the collection process to be carried out? How does he reconcile this with a recent statement that home-produced eggs travel from the hen to the grocer in seven to nine days?
§ Mr. WilleyI did not say "from the hen to the grocer." The figures I gave last Monday were based on an inquiry which had been held and which justified those figures.
§ Mr. Emrys HughesIs the Minister taking any steps to prevent eggs being mixed with opencast coal?
§ Mr. Henry StraussWhat producers of eggs are not primary producers? What is a secondary producer of an egg?
§ 17. Mr. Nabarroasked the Minister of Food whether the home-produced eggs delivered to Mr. A. J. Lewis, grocer, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, on Monday, 3rd July, 1950, were less than nine days old.
§ Mr. NabarroIs the Parliamentary Secretary aware that on 3rd July this grocer received 180 dozen home-produced eggs, only a part of which have been opened so far; that out of that 180 dozen, 30 dozen have so far had to go back to the egg packing station in view of their condition, eight dozen have had to be replaced for customers—
§ Mr. SpeakerIt seems to me that the hon. Gentleman is not asking a supplementary question but is giving information, which is not the object of Questions.
§ Sir T. MooreIt is very interesting information though.
§ Mr. Peter ThorneycroftCould the hon. Gentleman tell us what the period of seven to nine days refers to, if it does not refer to the interval between the time when the egg is laid and when it gets on to the breakfast table?
§ Mr. WilleyI said it did not refer to the time when the egg is laid because we base the time back to the date of collection. In answer to the hon. Member for Kidderminster (Mr. Nabarro), perhaps I might be allowed to say this: that the delay in the case to which he has drawn my attention lay with the wholesaler, and the retailer has his ordinary remedy against the wholesaler if there is deterioration.
§ Mr. NabarroBut is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that, out of this particular consignment five and a half dozen eggs were in a positively dangerous and explosive condition and had to be buried?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIf the seven to nine days' period does not run from the hen but only from the packing station, can the hon. Gentleman make clear what is the average time from the hen to the breakfast table?
Mr. WileyIf the hon. Gentleman will read the replies I have given he will be able to hazard a guess for himself.
§ Sir Waldron SmithersIs it not a fact that the wholesalers are all Socialists and had a store of rotten eggs because they had private news of an early General Election?