§ Mr. Turtonasked the Minister of Food what is the estimated amount of subsidy that will be paid this year item by item, and where a commodity is rationed the increase in the cost of the ration that would be occasioned by the removal of the subsidy.
§ Mr. Strachey,pursuant to his reply (Official Report, 10th March, 1948; Vol. 448, c. 146) supplied the following information:
323W
ESTIMATED FOOD SUBSIDIES DURING THE YEAR TO 31st MARCH, 1948. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Subsidy Estimated to be incurred in 1947–1948. Unit. Subsidy per Unit Current Weekly Domestic Ration per person. Increase in cost of Domestic Ration that would be required to eliminate subsidy. £ms. Pence. Pence. Bacon 12.0 1 lb. 9.0 2 ozs. 1.12 Bread 56.1 3½ lb. 5.0 63 ozs. say 6.00 Flour, other than for Bread 24.1 7 lb. 11.25 Shell Eggs 26.1 1 doz. 24.0 say 1 egg say 2.00 Carcase Meat 61.0 1 lb. 4.0 say 1 lb. say 4.00 Milk 34.5 1 quart 1.5 2½ pts. 1.87 Butter 24.7 1 lb. 11.4 2 ozs. 1.42 Cheese 22.1 1 lb. 11.4 2 ozs. 1.42 Margarine (Domestic) 8.1 1 lb. 2.75 4 ozs. 0.69 Cooking Fat or Lard (Domestic) 1.5 1 lb. 2.1 1 oz. 0.13 Potatoes 19.8 7 lb. 2.5 3 lb. 1.07 Sugar (Domestic) 29.8 1 lb. 1.9 8 ozs. 0.95 Tea 9.4 1 lb. 6.0 2 ozs. 0.75 Other Foods Cr. 21.6 307.6 Animal Feeding Stuffs 33.2 Welfare Schemes. National Milk Scheme 19.5 Milk in Schools Scheme 7.5 Other Welfare Schemes 6.7 33.7 Unallocated payment to Argentine 10.0 H.M. Exchequer contribution towards New Zealand subsidies 4.0 Fertilisers and Molasses subsidies borne by the Board of Trade 6.8 £395.3
NOTES: 1. The unit subsidies are the average figures for the year and do not necessarily represent the subsidy ruling to-day. 2. Current egg allocations exceed one per week; the figure given is the average for the year. 3. Subsidies on a per capita basis amount to just over 3s. per week. Column (5) of the table totals 1s. 9½d.; the difference is accounted for partly by the value of the unallocated items and partly by variations in rations during the year, priority rations and so on.