§ 32. Mr. Blenkinsopasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated consumption of fresh milk per person in Newcastle-upon-Tyne at the latest available date; and how this figure compares with the national average.
§ Mr. GodberThe latest figures available for Newcastle-on-Tyne are those for 1955, when the Milk Marketing Board made a household survey in nine large towns. That survey showed the consumption of liquid milk in Newcastle to be 4.37 pints per head per week compared with an average of 4.74 pints for the nine towns covered by the survey. The national average for 1955, as shown by the National Food Survey, was 4.81 pints per week.
§ Mr. BlenkinsopDoes the hon. Gentleman not feel that it is about time that we had a further inquiry? While welcoming the work of the Dairy Festival and other schemes of this kind, does he not feel that in these areas where consumption is low there should be a continuing campaign to try to increase it?
§ Mr. GodberInquiries of this sort on a local basis are instituted by the Milk Marketing Board, not by the Government. We try to get our figures from the National Food Survey, covering the country as a whole. I think it would be difficult for us to have selective inquiries in this way. I agree that the figures showed a lower consumption in Newcastle at that time. I have no means of knowing whether that is the position today.