§ Mr. Snowasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state what his policy is in the matter of domestic production of sugar relative to existing commitments for the importation of cane sugar; and whether, in the interests of the national need to reduce imports, the United Kingdom interests will predominate over foreign and Commonwealth importations.
§ Mr. PeartOur purchases of cane sugar from the Commonwealth are governed by the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement which at present runs to 1972. Domestic production of beet sugar is regulated by decisions taken at the Annual Reviews held under the Agriculture Acts. The total quantity of sugar obtained from these two sources nearly satisfies United Kingdom requirements. To increase domestic production of sugar at the expense of imports from Commonwealth countries would not only involve a breach of a longstanding commercial agreement, but would react most unfavourably on the economies of a number of under-developed territories which depend largely on sugar production for their livelihood.
§ Mr. Snowasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average daily intake of unprocessed sugar beet in the 1963–64 season; what is the daily intake capacity in respect of each of the sugar factories in the West Midlands; and what is the estimated actual daily intake for 1964–65.
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§ Mr. HoyThe following information has been provided by the British Sugar Corporation:
Actual Daily intake 1963–64 tons Daily intake capacity 1964–65 tons Actual daily intake 1964–65 tons Factory Allscott 2,219(a) 2,450 2,523(b) Kidderminster 2,344(a) 2,600 2,342(c) (a) In 1963–64 both Allscott and Kidderminster were engaged in concurrent refining i.e. raw sugar was being processed at the same time as sugar beet with a consequent reduction in the tonnage of beet that could be taken in. (b) In the event, it proved possible to put through rather more than the calculated capacity for this factory. (c) In 1964–65 the rate of intake at Kidderminster had to be reduced because of the exceptionally high sugar content of this year's beet. The factory could have sliced a larger daily tonnage of beet but the subsequent purifying processes would then have been overloaded. Accordingly, the factory had to operate for a slightly longer period to cope with the sugar beet to be processed.
§ Mr. Staintonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, as a contribution to steadying the cost of living, he will instruct the Sugar Board to reduce the level of surcharge on refined sugar for United Kingdom consumption to the current difference between the free world price of raw sugar and the Commonwealth and home beet producers' contract prices.
§ Mr. PeartThe present rate of surcharge includes a relatively small element designed to eliminate by June this year
CHANGES IN THE INDEX OF RETAIL PRICES: FOOD GROUP AND SUB-GROUP INDICES (January1962=100) 15th October, 1964 15th December, 1964 Bread, flour, cereals, biscuits and cakes … … … … 109 112 Meat and bacon … … … … 114 115 Fish … … … … 106 109 Butter, margarine, lard and cooking fat … … … … 112 115 Milk, cheese and eggs … … … … 102 108 Tea, coffee, cocoa, soft drinks, etc. … … … … 105 104 Sugar, preserves and confectionery … … … … 121 120 Vegetables, fresh, dried and canned … … … … 105 106 Fruit, fresh, dried and canned … … … … 85 85 Other foods … … … … 108 108 ALL FOOD … … … … 108.0 109.9 Within the meat group, although the prices of some cuts have risen, others have remained stable or fallen. In recent weeks, there have been decreases in the prices of all sizes of eggs and in the price of bacon.
146Wthe deficit incurred by the Sugar Board in 1964. The Sugar Act, 1956, requires the Board to balance its books, taking one year with another. It would be improper for me to instruct the Board to disregard its statutory duty.