Eggs (Hansard, 11 June 1951)

§ 37. Mr. Boyd-Carpenter
asked the Minister of Food when he proposes to allow the sale of eggs off the ration.

§ Mr. F. Willey
On the basis of the supplies coming forward in the early weeks of the year, it was hoped that supplies in the spring would have been sufficient for my right hon. Friend to allow the free sale of eggs as he was able to do last year. The Ministry made preparations for free sales, and, to assist the trade and the public, my right hon. Friend, in reply to Questions, stated that it was again our intention to free eggs from the ration. But our hopes and intentions have not been realised. Unfortunately, both here and in our overseas supplying countries, we have had the worst season for weather for over 20 years. Consequently, we have not had much in the way of a spring flush, and, very reluctantly, we have had to postpone the operation of our decision to allow retailers to sell to unregistered customers, As things now look, the chilly and damp weather having persisted so long, it does not seem possible that we can completely free sales this season.
But supplies will tend to fluctuate, and in some areas will probably prove more than adequate for the prescribed allocations. Indeed, in the past two weeks, the supply generally has been greater than last year. This, however, is too late, and is not likely to be of a sufficiently sustained period to permit general off-ration sales. But I would point out that there is nothing in the existing order to prevent grocers letting their registered customers have any additional supplies which they have to spare, and I know that this happens in a large number of cases.

§ Mr. Boyd-Carpenter
In view both of the failure to reach last year's position and of the miscalculation by the Ministry which is disclosed in that answer, will the Government reconsider the decision announced a few weeks' ago, by the Minister of Agriculture, not to seek to increase egg supplies in this country?

§ Mr. Willey
I was asked what we proposed to do to allow the sale of eggs off the ration. I have explained why, in present circumstances, we are not in a position to allow the sale of eggs off the ration.

§ Sir H. Williams
Was the strike of the hens official or unofficial?

§ 39. Captain Duncan
asked the Minister of Food how many cases of home eggs he bought in the spring which were oiled, packed and stored; what was the cost of this operation; and what was the loss on the value of the eggs by converting them from fresh into preserved eggs.

§ Mr. F. Willey
A total of 366,752 cases of home-produced eggs were oil-processed and cold stored for my Department this spring. The approximate average cost of oiling the eggs, packing them and placing them in cold store was 3s. 3¾d. per case. The Department's selling price for oiled and stored eggs is 15s. per case lower than the selling price ruling at the time for fresh eggs of equal quality and size.

§ Captain Duncan
What, therefore, has been the loss on this transaction? Would I be exaggerating if I put the loss on the whole transaction at over £500,000?

§ Mr. Willey
The hon. and gallant Gentleman would be under-estimating if he put it at £250,000.

Mr. Vane
Can the hon. Gentleman tell us what is the advantage of spending 3s. 3d. on each case in order to lower the value by 15s.?

§ Mr. Willey
These oil processed eggs sell at lower prices than fresh eggs. The decision to oil dip them was taken at a time when, from all the expert advice given to us, it appeared that we would be able to carry over these eggs until the autumn, but, as I have previously explained, we have had the worst weather for 20 years.

§ Colonel Gomme-Duncan
Is not this a most astonishing state of affairs? If the hon. Gentleman says that my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Angus, South (Captain Duncan) was under-estimating when he quoted a certain figure, will he tell us, so that the public may know, what is the actual one, because it may be positively alarming?

§ Mr. Willey
The figure is contained in the answer which I have given.

§ Mr. Nugent
Bearing in mind that oil dipped eggs deteriorate very rapidly in warm weather, will the hon. Gentleman tell us why he decided to release these 1656 eggs in warm weather, instead of in the winter-time, when it is cooler?

§ Mr. Willey
We released these eggs, as my right hon. Friend explained, because of the need for more eggs at this time, because of the shortage of meat, but we have no evidence of any deterioration of the eggs that have been released.

§ 40. Captain Duncan
asked the Minister of Food how many of the eggs stored by his Department in the spring have been released to the public; and what the loss is in prematurely releasing them.

§ Mr. F. Willey
The intention is to release to the public all the cases of home-produced eggs which were oil processed in the spring, and the release is proceeding. It is not possible yet to determine the financial results of their early release, because the prices at which the eggs would have been sold next autumn and winter have not been fixed.

§ Captain Duncan
Is this not another example of stupid and extravagant State trading, and would it not be very much better to leave these things to people in the trade who understand them?

§ Mr. Willey
I can contradict that at once. These officials of the Egg Division are highly respected in the trade, and have considerable experience.

§ Mr. Nugent
As the eggs were released to make up the expected shortage next winter, how does the Minister expect to make up the deficiency that will arise from using them now?

§ Mr. Willey
We are doing all we can to get more eggs for the autumn, but it is a fact that we shall be so many eggs shorter than we otherwise would have been but for the fact that there has been no flush. What we have done is to take a decision to make these eggs available to the people when we believe they would most require them.

§ Mr. Nabarro
Would not the business of the House be facilitated if the hon. Gentleman would denationalise the egg trade now?