§ 28. Mr. Mackieasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of the milk fund will be required to pay the increase to producers given at this year's review.
§ Mr. PriorAt this year's Annual Review we have given an increase of about £23 million which is just under 5 per cent. of the total value of the milk guarantee.
§ Mr. MackieFrom calculations which I have made on figures which I have received from the Minister, it has cost the consumer at least £80 million more for butter and cheese during the 21 months that the Government have been in power. This is where the fund has come from. Will the right hon. Gentleman answer two questions: first, was he not misleading the House when he said that the consumer did not pay for the extra penny that the farmer was getting; and secondly, does he think that the balance of the fund will maintain the decrease in milk prices to the consumer after September?
§ Mr. PriorI will answer the last part of the hon. Gentleman's question first. The milk fund will hardly be in balance by the end of March, 1973, as a result of the reduction in price over the next four months.
On the first part of the question, the answer is that only a proportion of the increase resulting from the manufactured milk market goes into the milk fund. It is only that portion which lies within the standard quantity. The portion lying outside the standard quantity goes direct to the farmer. That will amount to about £15 million during the coming year if the price of manufactured milk remains at about its present level.