§ 6.22 p.m.
§ LORD WINDLESHAM rose to move, that the Payments in Aid of Agricultural Schemes (Extension) Order 1971 be approved. The noble Lord said: My Lords, the purpose of this Order is to renew the Special Assistance Grant to agricultural schemes in Northern Ireland for a further three years, and to provide that the maximum annual rate of grant shall be £1,900,000. This is a longstanding, arrangement. It began 17 years ago, in 1954, when the current system of 769 agricultural support was introduced in the United Kingdom, and it has been regularly renewed since, then.
§ Noble Lords who take an interest in agricultural matters will know that what happens is that farmers throughout the United Kingdom receive deficiency payments to make up the difference between the average United Kingdom market prices and the guaranteed prices determined at the Annual Review. This means that when a deficiency payment is made, each farmer receives the same addition to the price he obtains from the market, whatever the actual difference between the price he himself has obtained and the guaranteed price. Northern Ireland market prices tend to be lower than prices in Great Britain for a number of the main agricultural commodities, so that even including the deficiency payments, the total returns to Northern Ireland farmers tend to fall short of the guaranteed prices.
§ In order to compensate Northern Irish farmers for this disadvantage, which is attributable largely to the cost of sending produce across the Irish Sea, the Government decided in 1954 to make a grant each year to the Government of Northern Ireland for the purpose of assisting agriculture there. The statutory authority for the grant is Section 32 of the Agriculture Act 1957. This provides for the grant to be extended for periods of not more than five years at a time, and for the amount of the grant to be varied at the time of its extension—subject to Parliamentary approval.
§ The current rate of grant, under the Order which expires on March 31 of this year is £1,750,000. The Order now before your Lordships proposes that the annual rate of grant for the next three years shall be at the rate of £1,900,000. There are two elements in this figure of £1,900,000: first, the basic rate of grant is being continued at its present rate of£1¾ million a year; second, the current grant has been underspent by a total of £450,000, and we propose that this sum should be carried forward into the new grant period, adding £150,000 for each of the three years extension. 770 Thus, what is proposed is a total grant of £1.9 million for the next three years.
§ My Lords, it seems sensible to fix the rate of grant for three years only on this occasion, and not for five years as in the past, because the major change proposed for the system of support of agriculture—the changeover to a system of import levies—means that it will probably be necessary to look at this whole matter again in about three years' time.
§ My Lords, before closing let me just say a word or two about the way in which the grant is used. The Ministry of Agriculture in Northern Ireland devise schemes which help farmers there to overcome the disadvantage which they suffer as a result of their remoteness; it is these schemes that are financed out of the grant. Those running at the moment are aimed mainly at encouraging better marketing and better quality production, particularly of livestock, and there are also payments for superior hygenic quality of milk and payments for improvements in seed potatoes.
§ Further details are contained in a Statement which is laid each year before Parliament. The Statement for 1970–71 was laid yesterday. The schemes which are financed out of the grant are the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture in Northern Ireland, subject to general approval by the agriculture Ministers for the United Kingdom. This general approval is needed because the special assistance grant is part of the total assistance given under the Annual Review system, and it has therefore to be used in ways consistent with the Government's agricultural policy. With this proviso, the devising and administration of the schemes financed out of the grant is a matter for the Northern Ireland Ministry of Agriculture. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the Payments in Aid of Agricultural Schemes (Extension) Order 1971 be approved.—(Lord Windlesham.)
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, I content myself with thanking the noble Lord, Lord Windlesham, for the clarity of the explanation he has placed upon the Record for an Order which we wish well.