§ 42. Mr. Rathboneasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of the £122 million increase in machinery costs is attributable to the falling pound.
§ Mr. StrangThe figure of £122 million for machinery costs in Table 26 of the White Paper "Annual Review of Agriculture 1976" (Cmnd. 6392) refers to the change in operating costs for agricultural machinery since the 1975 Annual Review.
It is not possible to isolate the proportion of the £122 million attributable to the falling pound because of the multiplicity of elements involved in valuing the cost change. These include service charges, a range of price indices and market prices drawn from official sources, surveys and other estimates.