§ Mr. Cormackasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the cost to public funds of canteen and other catering facilities provided by his Department for employees (a) in London, and (b) elsewhere during 1976 and 1977, respectively; and what contribution was made towards the cost of meals provided for and consumed by employees during working hours by those employees in the same year.
§ Mr. John SilkinCivil Service staff restaurants throughout the country are provided free of charge with premises, equipment and services. The cost to public funds of this provision could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Each restaurant is currently entitled to a graduated subsidy and in addition some units receive reimbursement for special operating expenses.
The table below shows the cost to public funds of these cash subsidies and of other catering facilities as well as the contribution of staff to the cost of meals. Separate figures for the cost to public funds of other catering facilities in London are not readily available.
Such information as is readily available is given below with the qualifications set out in the explanatory notes. Retail food prices are affected by the costs of processing and distribution as well as by first hand wholesale prices. The increases since January 1973 therefore tend to be smaller in such countries as Germany, where the rate of inflation of prices in general, as indicated by the change in all retail prices, has been comparatively low.
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PERCENTAGE INCREASES IN RETAIL PRICES OF REPRESENTATIVE TYPES OF FOODS IN EEC COUNTRIES FROM JANUARY 1973 (FEBRUARY FOR THE IRISH REPUBLIC) The first line for each foodstuff refers to the latest common month for which information is available for all foodstuffs and all countries i.e. July 1977 (August for the Irish Republic). The second line refers to the latest month in 1977 for which information is available for that country. This is July for Italy; August for the Netherlands; October for France and Denmark; November for West Germany, Belgium and the Irish Republic; and December for the United Kingdom. West Germany France Italy Netherlands Belgium Denmark Irish Republic United Kingdom Beef … … … … … 18 47 89 22 42 40 89 77 19 54 89 23 45 53 89 72 Pork … … … … … 16 49 N.A. 20 23 71 105 73 18 56 N.A. 24 28 78 108 85 Bacon … … … … … 28 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. 50 110 97 30 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. 61 112 102 Poultrymeat … … … … … 15 90 N.A. 62 51 N.A. N.A. 119 15 94 N.A. 61 48 N.A. N.A. 114 Milk … … … … … 16 60 134 48 86 80 60 109 16 63 134 49 88 82 60 109 Butter … … … … … 11 29 93 N.A. 26 71 91 108 11 31 93 N.A. 28 44 90 130 Cheese … … … … … 32 51 153 27 38 100 170 92 33 54 153 28 41 117 170 114 Eggs … … … … … 10 52 88 23 29 25 96 124 13 71 88 26 51 34 94 158 Bread … … … … … 36 57 111 N.A. 82 82 102 103 37 64 111 N.A. 94 89 102 126 Sugar … … … … … 28 57 N.A. 36 61 204 159 197 29 65 N.A. 37 70 226 159 206 Apples … … … … … 94 164 N.A. N.A. 126 142 N.A. 142 60 137 N.A. N.A. 68 34 N.A. 95 Potatoes … … … … … 77 129 N.A. 46 50 128 30 208 -17 7 N.A. 38 -34 62 -11 85 All retail food prices … … … … … 27 68 121 42 50 65 101 131 24 73 121 42 53 75 102 134 All retail prices including non-food … 28 59 104 46 53 61 100 106 28 63 104 47 56 70 103 111 N.A.=No quotation available.
Explanatory Notes: 1. The data has been extracted from national publications, usually monthly bulletins of statistics. The latest date for which these publications are available varies from July 1977 for Italy to December 1977 for the United Kingdom. The information is given for the most recent month common to all countries (July 1977) but since this is some time ago the information is also given for the most recent month for each country. 2. In national publications the specification quoted for some products has been changed since January 1973 and it has been necessary to derive the percentage change for these products over the whole period by linking the price changes of two or more specifications. The results are thus subject to error. The quotations for potatoes available for the United Kingdom relate to main crop potatoes for January and to new potatoes for July. 3. No information is readily available for Luxembourg.