§ 11. Mr. Sainsburyasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what pre-tax income is equivalent to the annual saving in expenditure as a result of food subsidies for a family with two children under 11 years, having a total income, unearned, of £10,000 per annum.
§ Mr. MaclennanAssuming implementation of the conditional and unconditional proposals in the Budget, the equivalent pre-tax income for 1976–77 would be £113.
§ Mr. SainsburyDoes the Minister agree that that is a rather unhappy contrast with the value to the average pensioner of about £22? Will he direct the energies of his Department to stop this wasteful and unselective subsidy and direct the Government's mind to the better value to be obtained from help such as the Child Benefit Scheme?
§ Mr. MaclennanThe hon. Gentleman does not present very clearly the benefit of the food subsidy programme. For what it is worth, the individual to whom he has drawn attention would have, on the basis of his average share of taxation, to be paying £130 income tax to get the benefit 953 of £34 in food subsidies. That illustrates one of the advantages of the food subsidy programme—namely, its redistributive nature.
§ Mr. Ioan EvansWill my hon. Friend confirm that the Opposition's arguments against food subsidies are bogus? Will he confirm that a man earning £10,000 and with two children—a family of four —is not getting more out of food subsidies than a pensioner when the pensioner is benefiting from the subsidies without paying any tax? The person getting £10,000 pays tax for himself, for his family and for the pensioner.
§ Mr. MaclennanThe proportion of benefit to pensioners is substantially greater than that obtained by the untypical family that the hon. Member for Hove (Mr. Sainsbury) has mentioned.