§ 67. Mr. Osborneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much food subsidies have cost for each separate year since 1945; and what has been the internal purchasing value of the pound for each year, taking 1945 as the base at 20s.
§ Mr. GaitskellThe answer is as follows:
FOOD SUBSIDIES £m. 1944–45 … … 195.7 1945–46 … … 265.5 1946–47 … … 323.7 1947–48 … … 391.6 1948–49 … … 484.4 1949–50 … … 424.8 1950–51 … … 410.0* (Estimate) * Final figure not yet available.
PURCHASING POWER OF THE £ (in terms of expenditure over the whole field of consumer goods and services) s. d. 1945 … … … … 20 0 1946 … … … … 19 6 1947 … … … … 18 3 1948 … … … … 16 11 1949 … … … … 16 7 1950 … … … … 16 1