HC Deb 28 March 1961 vol 637 cc121-2W
Mr. Loveys

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many man hours are used annually in his Department to deal with the fertiliser subsidy scheme.

Mr. Soames

Approximately 320,000, equivalent to about 140 staff.

Mr. Loveys

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, how much fertiliser is used in this country on which no subsidy is paid.

Mr. Soames

Subsidy is not paid on three classes of fertilisers: first, potash: second, organic fertilisers: third, any fertilisers which are not used for agricul- tural purposes. The total annual usage of potash in this country is about 425,000 tons of potassium oxide. I have no figures for the annual usage of the second and third classes.