§ Captain Duncanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland why the amounts of the collective guarantee payments on fatstock were not known in Forfar on Friday, 6th April, in respect of sales on that day.
§ Mr. J. StuartI regret any misunderstanding that may have arisen locally. The amounts of the guarantee payments for fatstock are determined as provided in the Fatstock Guarantee Scheme, 1956–57 and announced before the beginning of the four-week guarantee period to which they relate. For the period in question the rates of guarantee were announced on 16th March. A stabilising adjustment may be applied increasing or decreasing the amount of the guarantee payment for any class of stock in any week of a guarantee period according to the average level of return to producers for that class of stock in that week. The average return in any week is calculated normally on Friday, and any adjustments to the guarantee payments are announced in the Press on Saturday.