§ Sir W. de FRECEasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) the annual 2952W public consumption in Great Britain, averaged over the last five years, of bacon, ham, butter, lard, suet, and margarine;
(2) the annual public consumption in Great Britain, averaged over the last five years, of flour of wheat, rye, maize, pea, or bean, including self-raising flour and cake flour, cornflour, oatmeal, rolled oats, rice, sago, tapioca, sugar, dried beans, dried currants, dried raisins, and dried sultanas?
§ Mr. A. M. SAMUELPrior to 1st April, 1923, the Irish Free State was included in the United Kingdom for purposes of trade statistics, and, consequently, it is not possible to give separate particulars for Great Britain and Northern Ireland before that date. During the three years from 1st April, 1923, to 31st March, 1926, the average quantity of rice imported into and retained in Great Britain and Northern Ireland was 2,406,083 cwts. annually. During the same period there were entered for home consumption, as a yearly average, 31,598,305 cwts. of raw and refined sugar, 1,207,380 cwts. of dried currants, and 1,107,090 cwts. of raisins and sultanas. The quantity of sugar produced from home-grown beet and retained in 2953W Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1925 was 1,027,422 cwts.
The remaining articles enumerated in the questions are in part produced in this country and in part imported. I regret that I am unable to furnish particulars of the home production during the last five years, but I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for the Don Valley (Mr. T. William) on 26th April, in which it was estimated that the production of margarine in Great Britain in 1925 was 140,000 tons. The following statement shows, as an average of the three years ended 31st March, 1926, the net imports and the domestic exports of the goods referred to:
— Net Imports Retained. Domestic Exports. cwts. cwts. Bacon 7,202,000 29,000 Hams 1,565,000 17,000 Butter 5,228,000 18,000 Lard 2,358,000 10,000 Margarine 1,317,000 43,000 Wheat, meal and flour 9,787,000 5,857,000 Other descriptions of meal and flour (including rofled oats) and farinaceous substances (including sago and tapioca). 4,590,000 †1,513,000 Dried beans 1,177,000 †65,000 † Average of the two calendar years 1924 and 1925.