HC Deb 05 July 1984 vol 63 cc451-2
8. Mr. Andrew Stewart

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the date of the Council of Agriculture Ministers meeting at which a milk quota scheme on the lines of the one subsequently introduced was first discussed.

Mr. Jopling

The Commission published its proposals on milk quotas and a supplementary levy on 28 July 1983 and this was first discussed at the Council of Agriculture Ministers on 30 August 1983.

Mr. Stewart

Does my right hon. Friend agree that his answer shows that his Ministry was ill-prepared for the implementation of the quotas in April?

Mr. Jopling

No, I do not accept that at all. The Commission was ill-prepared, in that it had not prepared its ground rules properly. We were not told of the Commission's final ground rules until a date in May, which was five, six or seven weeks after the agreement. Nor were we told until a date in June about the final arrangements for the direct sales arrangements, because the Commission did its sums wrong. Perhaps I might tell the hon. Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Buchan) that the £195,000 in compensation which he quoted is precisely five times what it should be.

Mr. Bruce

When the milk quotas were first discussed, were the implications for beef prices resulting from increased slaughtering considered? As beef prices are showing softness, will the Minister assist farmers if that persists?

Mr. Jopling

The hon. Gentleman might know that it is traditional at this time of year for beef prices to move downwards as beef comes off the grass. I see some hon. Members on the hon. Gentleman's left nodding agreement. The impact on the beef market has always been recognised as a consequence of running down milk production as cows are put on the market for slaughter.

Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop

As my right hon. Friend has just told the House that the outgoers scheme is not a compensation scheme but one to buy quota for reallocation, may I ask him on what date he told either the Commission or the Cabinet that he insisted on a compensation scheme — and I mean a compensation scheme — for those driven out of economic milk production which parallels that given to steel workers driven out of their occupation by the EEC quota on steel? When did he do that? If he has not done it, when will he do it?

Mr. Jopling

Perhaps my hon. Friend did not appreciate what I said. I showed that a comparison between the statutory redundancy scheme and the outgoers scheme was false because outgoers do not have to leave farming; they are obliged only to give up dairying.

Mr. Corbett

Did the right hon. Gentleman raise in the Council of Ministers the need for adequate redundancy for stockmen and others who lose their jobs as a result of milk quotas? Does he accept that while a redundant cow can attract £3,250 over five years, a redundant stockman, having been thrown on the scrapheap, will get less than £1,000?

Mr. Jopling

The hon. Gentleman will know that the redundancy arrangements have been in operation for many years, including when the Labour party was last in office. He will also know that agricultural workers who are made redundant will be able to benefit from the existing statutory redundancy scheme.