§ Mr. Sainsburyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has made of the increased costs to food distributors arising from the changes in (a) vehicle excise duty and (b) duties on road fuels.
§ Mr. BishopThere are no official statistics of the numbers and types of vehicles used in food distribution, nor of the quantity of road fuels they require. The best estimate I can make is that the increased280W costs in aggregate are likely to be between £15 and £30 million per annum, about half of which would be due to the changes in road fuel duty. However, there could be some offsetting savings arising from greater efficiency in vehicle usage. Total household expenditure on food was some £14 billion in 1976.