HC Deb 19 December 1985 vol 89 cc551-2
1. Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on the size of intervention stocks of cereals held in Britain.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. John Selwyn Gummer)

I am replying on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Minister, who is at a Council meeting in Brussels.

On 6 December, unsold stocks in intervention stores in Great Britain were 2.1 million tonnes of barley and 3.6 million tonnes of wheat.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

Will my right hon. Friend explain how those quantities persist even after a poor harvest? Does he agree that those surplus stocks represent a standing indictment of the way in which the common agricultural policy is still being run and are doing great damage to the image of British farming? Will my right hon. Friend make proposals for reducing those surpluses?

Mr. Gummer

My hon. Friend is right to say that the surplus stocks are far too high and do no good to the image of agriculture. The Commission has presented its proposals and they are being discussed. It is obviously necessary to move the CAP away from being a means of ensuring that we do not have a shortage of food and towards becoming a system that enables us to control what are now surpluses.

Mr. Home Robertson

What is the cost of that storage exercise in a full year? What proportion of cereal stocks have been in store for more than 12 months?

Mr. Gummer

Detailed replies to those questions have been given to the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends recently, but the average cost of commercial storage is about £10.22 per tonne per year.

Sir Peter Hordern

Are not cereal farmers already getting far too much subsidy? When will something realistic be done to reduce those subsidies so that consumers pay a reasonable price for their bread?

Mr. Gummer

My hon. Friend is right to say that price must be the basis of the removal of the surpluses; there must be much greater price discipline. However, we must also ensure that there is a sufficient return for the farmer so that he is able to produce the goods. We have to balance those aspects. If we are to do that, we must ensure that the increasing ability of farmers to grow more on the same acreage results in a lower price per tonne.

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