§ THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY (on behalf of LORD STRACHIE) rose to ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster "if he will now state the total amount received by the Ministry of Food from the deduction of 2d. per gallon from the price received for milk produced in the four South-Western Counties, and exported therefrom. Further, if he will state the total amount which the Ministry of Food has not received owing to those who are liable to pay this 2d. under the Milk Prices Order having refused to do so, on the ground that such Order is not legal, and how is the amount which has been received dealt with, and will any of that amount be directly or indirectly spent in foreign countries."
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, again I am acting as deputy. I am not a West-countryman, and I do not know much about cows; and I shall be perfectly content with the answer which the noble Earl will give me.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER (THE EARL OF CRAWFORD)My Lords, the total amount received up to July 31 by the Ministry of Food in respect of the sum of 2d. per gallon charged on milk produced in the four South-Western counties which is exported from those counties, or is utilised in the manufacture of milk products, is £9,200. An estimate of the amount which is due to the Ministry for the period May 1 to July 31, 1919, based upon the returns made by dealers and manufacturers, is £163,700, so that a balance of about £154,500 is still outstanding.
This situation is due in a large measure to refusal to pay the money on the ground that the Order requires payments to be made which are not legal. In certain cases, however, the dealers are provisionally retaining the amounts due as they have put forward claims against the Ministry in respect of the control exercised during the winter 1918–19 by the Food Controller under Regulation 2GG of the Defence of 1051 the Realm Regulations, and these claims are in course of settlement. It should also be pointed out that of the amount (£163,700) stated above, £46,200 is in respect of July, and therefore, owing to the need for examining returns and adjusting the amounts to be paid, cannot at this date be said to be unduly held back.
As the question has been raised, the Ministry has asked the advice of the Law Officers of the Crown upon the legality of the collection by the Ministry of the 2d. per gallon on exported milk and milk utilised for the manufacture of products. Upon this point I may inform the noble Lord that the Food Controller is now in possession of the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, who have advised him that in their opinion the collection of the 2d. per gallon is within the powers of the Food Controller under the Defence of the Realm Regulations.
The amount which has been already received has not yet been applied in any way, but is credited to a special fund which will be applied later—probably in the winter at period—in the reduction of the price to the public of milk products such as cheese, which, under the Ministry's pooling arrangements, is bought from the British farmer at a higher price than that at which it is sold through the Government pool. The precise application of the fund has not, yet been determined, but no part of it will be spent either directly or indirectly in foreign countries. The prices paid for foreign milk products are determined by market conditions in these countries, and no higher price has been offered in expectation of utilising the fund referred to in relief of such purchases.