POTATOES AND RYE (ACREAGE PAYMENTS) (Hansard, 18 May 1950)

The Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Thomas Williams)
I beg to move, That the Agriculture Act (Part 1) Extension of Period Order, 1950, dated 2nd May, 1950, a copy of which was laid before this House on 4th May, be approved. This Order is made by the Minister of Agriculture, the Secretary of State for Scotland, and the Secretary of State for the Home Department under Section 4 (2) of the Agriculture Act, 1947, to extend the operation of Section 4 of that Act. No Order under that Section can have effect after the expiration of three years from the passing of that Act, that is, beyond 6th August, 1950, unless the period is extended by a year at a time by an Order made by the Ministers.
Section 4 of the Act gave the above Ministers and also the Minister of Food, wide powers to make the necessary administrative arrangements for carrying out the policy of guaranteed prices and assured markets where there was no existing arrangement which could be used for that purpose, or where the provisions for such an arrangement were inadequate or unsuitable. The three years have expired, but, in February, 1949, it was agreed in the review of that month that acreage payments for 1950 should be made on rye and potatoes. Therefore we ask for this Order to enable the next Order to be dealt with, which merely fulfils part of the arrangement we made at the time of the price review in February, 1949.

Mr. T. Williams
I beg to move, That the Crop Acreage Payments (England and Wales) Order, 1950, dated 2nd May, 1950, a copy of which was laid before this House on 4th May, be approved. The object of this Order is, I repeat, simply to give effect to a part of the February, 1949, price review, and to enable the Government to make acreage payments for potatoes and rye grown in 1950. No acreage payment will be made in respect of those commodities beyond 1950, but this Order at least fulfils the pledge we made last year.

§ Major Sir Thomas Dugdale (Richmond, Yorks)
For purposes of record, could the Minister tell the House how this Order varies from the 1949 Order? There is no acreage payment for wheat under this 1479 Order because that has been stopped, and there has been a variation with regard to potatoes.

Mr. T. Williams
There have been two slight changes. The acreage payment on potatoes for 1949 was £12 for the first 10 acres, and £8 for the remainder. In 1950, the payment is £10 for every acre. The minimum area for which an acreage payment is made is increased to a quarter of an acre instead of one-sixteenth. Those are about the only changes made in this Order.

§ Sir T. Dugdale
As there is a slight difference between the Order relating to England and Wales and this Order relating to Scotland, could the Minister give the House, for record purposes, a little explanation regarding what are known as the "crofter" counties?

§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Thomas Fraser)
That, in fact, is the only difference. In the crofting counties we have made what would be described as a concession to the crofters there by taking into account, for purposes of this acreage payment, an area of one-tenth of an acre, whereas in the rest of the country we do not take into account an area of less than one-quarter of an acre. That is the only difference between this Order and the one which applies to England and Wales. We do that because in Scotland there are about a quarter of a million crofters who have only two, three or four acres, and many of them would be unable to receive an acreage payment if this were not done

§ Mr. Emrys Hughes (South Ayrshire)
Will my hon. Friend say what was the expenditure in Scotland last year, and what is the estimated expenditure for this year?

§ Mr. T. Fraser
I could not say without notice.

§ Sir T. Dugdale
May we have an explanation with regard to this Order because the acreage payments are different, I believe, in Northern Ireland?

§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Geoffrey de Freitas)
That is perfectly correct. It will be seen from the Order that the actual payment is £2 an acre less. The equivalent saving in money goes to payment when the potatoes are bought. That is the principal difference, but, of course, there are others with which I shall be pleased to deal if they are put to me.

§ Mr. Emrys Hughes
Can my hon. Friend say what was the expenditure on this subsidy in Northern Ireland?

§ Mr. de Freitas
It is, of course, impossible to forecast what the effects of this will be.

§ Mr. Emrys Hughes
I am referring to last year.

§ Mr. de Freitas
I could not give my hon. Friend an answer without notice, but that point is not relevant to this Order, which deals only with the future.