HC Deb 20 July 1961 vol 644 cc1454-6
26. Mr. Boyden

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to ensure that milk surplus to British needs is processed and made available to those British colonies and Commonwealth countries where substantial numbers of children suffer from diseases caused by lack of protein in their diet.

Mr. Vane

Milk in excess of current needs for the domestic liquid market is already processed into a variety of forms which are freely available for commercial sale both at home and to the Commonwealth. Assistance by Her Majesty's Government to British Colonies and the Commonwealth is made available in the form of grants, loans, technical assistance and educational and training facilities and not by way of contributions in kind.

Mr. Boyden

Will the hon. Gentleman go a stop further and make a very economic use of this product? Will he consult with the other Departments concerned, the Commonwealth Relations Office, the Colonial Office and the Treasury, to see whether this could be a dramatic contribution which would be effective both at home and in the Commonwealth?

Mr. Vane

It would not be dramatic because we have not a surplus of milk in this country. Although we are producing in excess of the needs of the liquid market, this country is a great importer of foodstuffs, including dairy products.

Mr. Marquand

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the recent Conference on International Food and Agriculture at Dubrovnik, at which the farmers' unions were represented, fully approved the policy outlined in my hon. Friend's Question? Is he further aware that U.N.I.C.E.F. is prepared and willing at this moment to take more milk from this country and to distribute it to the people who badly need it?

Mr. Vane

Generally, that is approved by farmers' representatives throughout the world, but there is a misunderstanding here. There is a suggestion that we have a substantial surplus which, in fact, does not exist.

Mr. P. Browne

Would my hon. Friend agree that we could produce more in this country and that would be a better idea than having the quota system for dairy farmers?

Mr. Vane

That is a wider question altogether.

30. Mr. Scott-Hopkins

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will give an undertaking, in view of the present uncertainty in the dairy industry, that the recent increase granted for liquid milk in the 1961 Price Review will continue to be paid until the 1962 Review.

Mr. Soames

Yes, Sir. There is no intention of reducing the guaranteed price for milk before 1st April, 1962. But, as stated in the White Paper, the position will need to be reconsidered at the next Annual Review in the light of progress made towards introducing a suitable alternative system of paying producers.

Mr. Scott-Hopkins

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this statement will be received with relief by dairy farmers? Will he bear in mind the extreme importance of this recent rise to the dairy industry, which is composed mainly of small producers? Will he promise to think very carefully before making any changes detrimental to the dairy industry at the next Price Review?

Mr. Soames

This will be considered at the next Annual Review. I do not think that my hon. Friend will expect me to comment on it today.

Mr. Awbery

Is it not a fact that the price of liquid milk is twice that of milk sent for processing? Can the right hon. Gentleman explain the difference in the price of milk for these different purposes?

Mr. Soames

It is very much more expensive to set out to produce milk for the liquid market than it is to produce milk for the manufacturing market. If one sets out to produce milk for the liquid market, it has to be a continual supply throughout the year, and it is very much more expensive to produce milk in the winter than in the summer. A producer setting out to produce milk for the manufacturing market can concentrate his production of milk in those months when it is cheapest to produce milk off the grass.