§ 4. Mr. C. Smithasked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that the present arrangements between his Department and the grain milling trade provide a profit of 3s. 3d. per sack on flour in low cost mills where the total costs of milling a sack were only 7s. 6d.; that such a situation has arisen because of the high degree of monopoly existing in the milling industry before the war; and whether he will take steps on the expiry of the present agreement to ensure that the aggregate profit of flour milling is reduced and part of the subsidy paid on flour and bread thus made available to reduce prices of other essential foods.
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§ Dr. SummerskillThe basis of the agreement under which the flour milling industry is remunerated is the aggregate of the average yearly profits of flour millers in three out of four consecutive years ended 31st December, 1938. It is the average costs of production and the average rate of profit of the industry as a whole which are material and not those of any individual miller. There is no evidence that the costs and profit levels indicated in the Question result from any degree of monopoly existing before the war. The agreement is renewed from year to year when all relevant factors are examined.