§ Mr. Scottasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will now give further information about the subsidy which is to be paid on hill cows in England and Wales in accordance with paragraph 13 of the recent White Paper on the Annual Review of Farm Prices, 1953.
§ Sir T. DugdaleAfter consulting the National Farmers' Union I propose to pay a subsidy of £10 a head on breeding cows and in-calf heifers in regular breeding herds kept on hill and upland farms in England and Wales. Any farm which would count as a hill or livestock rearing farm for the purposes of the Hill Farming and Livestock Rearing Acts will qualify, provided it carries a distinct herd kept for breeding. Cows kept solely for milk production will not be eligible, but herds kept for breeding store cattle for sale may qualify so long as all calves (male and female) are reared, even though small quantities of surplus milk may be sold in the summer time. In such cases, the subsidy would be reduced in proportion to the quantity of milk sold.
I propose that the new subsidy should continue for the four years 1953–56. A
Weekly Rate, July 1948 Weekly Rate, May 1953 Actual Equivalent at July 1948 prices (on basis of Retail Prices Index) s. d. s. d. s. d. 1. Single Person: (a) Without dependants … … 26 0 32 6 25 1 (b) With I child … … 33 6 43 0 33 2 (c) With 3 children … … 33 6 48 0 37 0 2. Married Couple: (a) Without children … … 42 0 54 0 41 8 (b) With 1 child … … 49 6 64 6 49 9 (c) With 3 children … … 49 6 69 6 53 7 3. Married woman without dependants: (a) Sickness benefit … … 16 0 22 0 17 0 (b) Unemployment benefit … 20 0 26 0 20 1