§ Colonel Baldwin-Webbasked the Minister of Agriculture whether under the existing scheme, the Potato Marketing Board is enabled at any time to buy up and hold off the market the bulk of the existing stocks of potatoes in this country; and what alterations in this respect the proposed amendments to the Potato Marketing Scheme contain?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithUnder the existing scheme the powers of the Potato Marketing Board to buy potatoes are limited to the purchase of surplus potatoes; that is to say, potatoes which registered producers are prohibited from selling for human consumption or potatoes which in the opinion of the board are not required or likely to be required for human consumption. The purposes of the amendment in this respect are to make it clear, first, that the board may re-sell potatoes which they have bought as "surplus," if, in fact, they are found to be required later in the season; and secondly, that the board may buy potatoes which are surplus to requirements in any particular locality or for the time being, so as to modify local or temporary price slumps. I may add that, in view of their limited financial resources, the board could not in practice buy up and hold off the market more than a negligible proportion of the total crop of potatoes in a normal year.
§ Sir J. Smedley Crookeasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that the total volume of potatoes consumed in Great Britain has, in each of the past five years, been less than in 1933 when the Potato Marketing Board was first established; and whether any new steps are under contemplation to rectify this position?
2637W
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithI am not aware of any reliable statistics of the consumption of potatoes in Great Britain. The production in 1933 was higher than in any subsequent year, but it was accompanied by an uneconomically low price for producers. Violent fluctuations from year to year in planted acreage and prices were a feature of the potato market before the Potato Marketing Board came into existence, and one of the objects of the scheme was to bring about a measure of stability to the advantage of both producers and consumers. This object has been achieved to a marked extent without causing any diminution in the average production of potatoes in Great Britain. I would remind my hon. Friend that in a normal year this country is practically self-supporting in main crop potatoes.
§ Mr. Gledhillasked the Minister of Agriculture whether any limit has been imposed on the borrowing powers of the Potato Marketing Board; and, if so, what it is?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithThere is no statutory limit to the amount that the Potato Marketing Board may borrow for the purpose of exercising any of their functions under the scheme. There are, however, obvious practical limitations to the amount which the board could borrow, which would depend, no doubt, on the resources and credit status of. the board and on the purpose for which the money was required.
§ Mr. Gledhillasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that in paragraph 9 of Part III of the National Farmers' Union document, published in March, 1933, explaining the provisions of the Potato Marketing Scheme, the hope was expressed that the operation of a price advisory service by the Potato Marketing Board would help to stop those producers who occasionally or habitually spoiled the market, and created temporary gluts through precipitous action founded on incomplete knowledge of the real situation; and whether he can state what steps have been taken by the board since it was established to prevent such damaging operations by individual producers?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithThe Potato Marketing Board have taken a number of steps to secure that registered producers2638W shall be informed as to the current market situation from time to time. These steps include the wide distribution by the board of weekly information as to the prices ruling in a large number of growers' and wholesale markets, and the constitution of Price Recommending Committees composed of representative registered producers. These committees, of which there are at present 25 in existence, meet from time to time to discuss prevailing market prices and publish information as to the prices ruling for different varieties of potatoes.
§ Sir J. Smedley Crookeasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that the National Farmers' Union, on 23rd March, 1933, reported that in every year it would be the duty of the Potato Marketing Board, after full investigation in every district and after consultation with Government Departments and the consideration of Returns, if necessary, from all registered producers, to decide whether or not there was likely to be a surplus of potatoes produced in Great Britain and to estimate the probable amount of such surplus; and what has been the result of such investigations during each of the years since the board was set up?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithI am informed by the Potato Marketing Board that they keep the supply and market situation more or less constantly under review and that in their investigations in this connection they make use of the information available from official sources as well as of the results of their own inquiries. The board's opinion as to the existence and probable amount of a surplus naturally varies from time to time during a season, and it is not possible to summarise within the limits of a reply to Parliamentary Question the results of their numerous investigations.