§ Major Legge-Bourkeasked the Minister of Food what are the totals, both debit and credit, for England and 68W Wales, and Scotland, respectively, in potato merchants' ledger balances; what was the original estimate before investigations began of the cases so far dealt with; what have been the actual figures; what have been the total costs of investigating cases already settled; and what more is estimated as being necessary to complete investigations.
§ Mr. StracheyAn analysis of ledger balances as between merchants, growers, agents, etc., is not readily available for all periods. The figures given below cover, therefore, the ledger balances in respect of all trading operations of the Potato and Carrot Division of the Ministry:
— Debits Credits £ £ At 31st December 1948: England and Wales 878,700 486,200 Scotland 19,500 13,400 TOTAL £ 898,200 499.600 The amounts included above in respect of the 1941 and earlier crops are:
— Debits Credits £ £ England and Wales 223,500 52,800 Scotland — — TOTAL £ 223,500 52,800 When large-scale measures were begun in January, 1945, with the object of clearing outstanding balances, the amounts shown on the ledgers covering all transactions in respect of crops up to and including 1943 were approximately:
— Debits Credits £ £ At 31st December 1944: England and Wales 4,350,000 1,360,000 Scotland 150,000 1,800 TOTAL £ 4,500,000 1,361,800 of which roughly a quarter (net) related to crops up to and including 1941. The amount outstanding on all these old debts relating to crops up to and including 1943 is now relatively small.
69WIt would be a long and expensive task to calculate the precise cost of the investigations that have been undertaken during the past four years; a rough estimate, covering all ledger balances up to and including the 1943 crop, is £100,000, representing something of the order of 5 per cent. of the amount collected. The cost of any further investigations will depend on the complexity of cases still to be examined.