HC Deb 15 June 1959 vol 607 cc6-8
11 Miss Burton

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, (1) whether he is aware that growers and greengrocers, in addition to the shopping public, are disturbed at the fluctuating prices of vegetables and salad immediately prior to each holiday weekend; and if he will convene a conference under the auspices of his Department, at which growers, wholesalers, and greengrocers, could answer questions from representative shoppers;

(2) whether he will consider interim measures to prevent the shopping public facing undue price rises in salad, fruit and vegetables prior to August Bank Holiday weekend; and

(3) what measures he proposes for the prevention of price increases at weekends in so far as salad, fruit and vegetables are concerned.

Mr. Godber

With permission, I will answer this Question and Questions Nos. 12 and 13 together.

Miss Burton

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I do not wish to be troublesome, but although Questions Nos. 11 and 12 are connected, No. 13 is not. May I have that Question answered separately?

Mr. Speaker

As I have said on other occasions, we do not yet know the Answer; it may cover them all, but if not, the hon. Lady will no doubt ask a supplementary question.

Mr. Godber

The following is the reply:

As the hon. Member will know from her own experience, demand for salads fluctuates very widely dependent on weather and other considerations. These wide fluctuations in demand are paralleled with equally wide and unpredictable variations in supply. And because these products are mainly highly perishable, it is impossible to even out the fluctuations.

In general, I could not agree that the rise in prices when demand is suddenly increased is excessive. A recent independent committee looked into the facts of this question and found that the costs of distribution were not excessive, and the profits of distributors compared with those in other trades were not high. The conference suggested by the hon. Lady is just the sort of thing that a horticultural marketing council—if set up—might well be able to consider.

As regards August Bank Holiday, prices at that time are bound to be determined by the level of supply and demand then operating. It is impossible to estimate at this stage what these levels are likely to be.

Miss Burton

It would have been simpler if the hon. Gentleman had said "No, Sir" to the three Questions. Is he aware that an answer like that will lose the Conservative Party any vote at any women's conference of any party anywhere? May I also ask, in regard to the increases at Whitsuntide, if he knows that the growers said the public were charged far too much in the shops and that they did not get the profits? Does he know that greengrocers have admitted that we were charged too much but they put the blame on wholesalers, and the wholesalers had nothing at all to say?

Mr. Godber

In the first place, if I had thought that the answer "No, Sir" would have satisfied the hon. Lady, I should have been very happy to have given it. On the question of votes for the Conservative Party, I am grateful for the hon. Lady's solicitude. On matters concerned in the Questions, while I know the points she makes, they are exactly the points which have been covered in the report to which I referred, and to which I referred only last week in answer to her when I said that this matter was exhaustively discussed but there was no evidence brought forward to justify the charges of excessive profits in any of the intermediary stages of distribution.

Mr. Willey

Why did the hon. Gentleman say "if" a horticultural marketing council is set up? Surely the Minister and everyone else has agreed that it should be set up? What we want to know is when it is to be set up. We have been put off and put off, but we want something done.

Mr. Godber

I could not accept that hon. Members have been put off. My right hon. Friend appointed the advisory council to go into this matter fully. It has recommended setting up a marketing council and I did not wish to anticipate any decision in the form of my reply. That is the reason for my reply taking the form it did. I assure the hon. Member that I am as anxious as he is to see it set up.

Mr. Willey

Can the hon. Gentleman tell us when the marketing council is to be set up?

Mr. Godber

No, I could not add to what my right hon. Friend has already said in a careful statement.

Miss Burton

May I ask whether the hon. Gentleman agrees with a greengrocer in Coventry who said that prices do not go up on Friday but they go down on Monday?

Mr. Godber

I note the concern of the hon. Lady when prices go up, but I should welcome her concern for the growers when prices go down.