§ Mr. Russell Johnstonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware that there has been 422W a sharp rise in the price of meat, including mutton, in Inverness; whether this applies to other areas in Scotland; and what steps he proposes to take to hold prices down in view of the economic situation.
§ Mr. PeartRetail prices throughout Great Britain have been affected by the substantial increases during November in the average auction price of fat sheep and lambs, and correspondingly in the wholesale price of their meat. Individual butchers in different areas will of course have experienced increases both higher and lower than the average depending on where they trade and the type of meat they handle; and the effect on retail prices will further depend on the extent to which individual traders have been able to absorb any part of their additional costs.
Some price changes are inevitable with commodities subject to considerable alterations in supply and demand. Buyers of meat can, however, play an important part in maintaining reasonable price levels by comparing prices not only between shops but also between cuts.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average price per pound of Argentine beef, Australian beef, Irish beef and home produced beef, respectively.
§ Mr. PeartMeat sells at varying wholesale prices according to supply and demand in different areas, and its quality. An indication of current levels is, however, given by the quotations on Smithfield market on 6th December which were as follows:—
s. d./lb. Eire sides 2 5–2 8 Argentine chilled hind 2 4–3 0 Argentine chilled fore 2 0–2 3 There has been no quotation this week for English longsides but recently these have been quoted at about 1d. lb. more than Eire sides. There are no comparable quotations for Australian beef, which is all imported in frozen form and rarely sold through wholesale markets.