§ Mr. Masonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the value of public expenditure in the agriculture industry in each year since 1969 (a) at current prices and (b) at constant 1979 survey prices.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerPublic expenditure on agriculture from 1969 to date at 1979 survey prices is as follows:
£m 1969–70 825 1970–71 836 1971–72 943 1972–73 831 1973–74 1,111 1974–75 1,205 1975–76 1,172 1976–77 697 1977–78 639 1978–79 746 1979–80 896 Some of this expenditure, e.g. monetary compensatory amounts, benefits consumers and overseas exporting interests rather than producers. To extract comparable figures at current prices would involve disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Masonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he intends to make any cuts in the level of public expenditure for the agriculture industry: and, if so, in which specific areas.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe White Paper "The Government's Expenditure Plans, 33W 1980–81"—Cmnd. 7746—shows that the expenditure provision for agriculture, fisheries, food and forestry will rise from £986 million in 1979–80 to £993 million in 1980–81. These figures include an increase in the net provision for agricultural expenditure. They allow for a rise in expenditure on EEC-financed market support policies and for savings from sales of land, from a decline in the uptake of some grants and subsidies—eg expenditure on brucellosis eradication as the eradication campaign nears completion—and from economies in some services such as research and development.