§ Mr. GROVESasked the Minister of Agriculture if he can provide a statement showing the total output of each beet sugar factory for 1931, distinguishing in each case between sugar produced from British beet and from imported raw sugar, respectively?
§ Sir J. GILMOURI am not in a position to state the quantities of sugar re-1198W fined at individual factories from imported raw sugar. The quantities of sugar (all polarisations) produced at each beet sugar factory from home-grown beet during the 1931–2 manufacturing campaign are as follow:
Quantity of sugar produced (provisional). Factory. cwts. Allscott … 178,570 Bardney … 314,125 Brigg … 166,894 Bury St. Edmunds … 643,421 Cantley … 428,882 Colwick … 292,070 Cupar … 12,111 Ely … 433,010 Pelstead … 377,600 Ipswich … 204,067 Kelham … 86,856 Kidderminster … 207,729 King's Lynn … 192,299 Peterborough … 479,492 Poppleton … 107,366 Selby … 171,744 Spalding … 407,830 Wissington … 323,643 Total … 5,027,709
§ Mr. RHYS DAVIESasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what is the total amount of loan money outstanding guaranteed under the Trade Facilities Act to the beet sugar factory at Colwick; and what proportion of this money was needed to enable the recent installation at that factory of plant for refining imported cane sugar?
§ Major ELLIOTThe beet sugar factory at Colwick is one of two factories owned by a company which has loans still outstanding of £371,500 out of £610,000 originally guaranteed under the Trade Facilities Acts. No amount was specially allocated to Colwick. I am not aware of any recent expenditure at Colwick on special plant for refining imported cane sugar, and no such expenditure has been met from the Trade Facilities loans.
§ Mr. MACPHERSONasked the Minister of Agriculture what has been the amount of assistance per cwt. in each of the past six years in subsidy and duty preference to home-produced sugar and to sugar from Colonial resources, respectively?
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§ Sir J. GILMOURThe amounts of assistance (subsidy and effective duty preference) per cwt. of fully refined home-
Year. Home-grown beet sugar. Colonial sugar. Subsidy.* Effective duty preference. Total. Effective duty preference. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. 1926–7 … … … 21 8⅔ 4 3⅓ 26 0 4 3⅓ 1927–8 … … … 1928–29 … … … 14 6 3 6 18 0 3 6 1929–30 … … … 1930–31 … … … 1931–2 … … … 7 3† 3 6 10 9 3 6 *Including the equivalent of the subsidy on molasses on the basis of ¼-cwt. of molasses. (50 to 70 per cent. sweetening matter) per cwt. of fully refined sugar. ‡ Excluding special advances, contingently repayable, at the maximum rate of 1s. 3d. per cwt. of fully refined sugar, paid to 12 of the 18 beet sugar factories under the British Sugar Industry (Assistance) Act, 1931.