HC Deb 05 June 1939 vol 348 cc54-6W
Mr. Mainwaring

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will provide a statement showing the list of subsidies and grants given to industries since 1st January, 1932, indicating those payable in 1939, and such items as will be repeated for one or more other years?

Captain Crookshank

The following table gives particulars of the subsidies payable since 1st January, 1932, from public funds to industries and branches of industry in the United Kingdom. The 1939 figures are the amounts included in the Estimates for the year.

1932–38 1939
£ £
Beet Sugar 18,594,585 3,000,000
Cattle Industry— payments to producers 18,114,794 4,265,000
Milk 5,696,861 492,910
Land Fertility Improvement 1,961,513 1,500,000
Bacon Industry — 425,010*
Oats and Barley 164,868 930,000
Herring Industry 109,807 73.450
Tramp Shipping 4,002,183 —
Mechanical Trans port 7.560 —
Light Horse Breeding 35,549 —
Civil Aviation 3,539,723 2,000,000
* Against this provision, receipts of £228,010 are anticipated.

As announced by the Minister of Agriculture on the 18th May, it is proposed to introduce legislation to enable a subsidy to be paid in respect of sheep and to amend the basis of the subsidy now payable in respect of oats and barley. The estimated cost of these subsidies for one year, on the basis of the prices ruling last year, would be:

£
Sheep … … … … 2,500,000
Oats … … … … 2,970,000
Barley … … … … 900,000

Under these proposals the amount included in the above table for the year 1939 in respect of oats and barley would not be required.

It is not possible at this stage to give an estimate of the expenditure, if any, during 1939, in connection with the proposals for the asistance of British shipping outlined by the President of the Board of Trade on the 28th March.

As regards expenditure in1940 and subsequent years, the conditions governing the subsidies payable during 1939 are regulated by statutes, the operation of which, with the exception of the Milk Acts, extends to various dates beyond the current year. It is not possible to state what amounts it will be necesary to provide in subsequent years for subsidies under the terms of existing legislation.