§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for title he has received from egg producers in Scotland as a result of the proposed amendments to the Egg Subsidy Scheme.
§ Mr. RossI have received no such representations since my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture,188W Fisheries and Food announced the Government's proposals for egg marketing arrangements to the House on 22nd January.—[Vol. 776, c. 453–7.]
§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many known egg producers there were in Scotland in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968; and what was the estimated production.
§ Mr. RossThe information is set out in the table below:
Number of producers December, 1963 … … … 31,502 December, 1964 … … … 34,959 December, 1965 … … … 32,822 December, 1966 … … … 30,747 December, 1967 … … … 28,676 June, 1968 … … … 27,237
Estimated production June-May years (million eggs) 1963–64 … … … 875 1964–65 … … … 945 1965–66 … … … 868 1966–67 … … … 871 1967–68 … … … 863 The number of producers, which is derived from the Department of Agriculture's censuses, refers to producers of hen eggs for human consumption who occupy agricultural holdings over one acre in extent. The figure for December, 1968, is not yet available. The estimated production figures are net (excluding wastage, "seconds", etc.).
§ Mr. James Davidsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland why egg producers in North-East Scotland will not be eligible for the same subsidies as producers in certain other areas of the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. RossThe Reorganisation Commission for Eggs recommended that producers in Orkney and Northern Ireland should receive a transport subsidy from the Exchequer to enable efficient units to compete in the United Kingdom market on the same terms as producers on the mainland. The Government, recognising the special difficulty presented by sea passage, have accepted this recommendation in principle. To extend a transport subvention to producers on the mainland would be inconsistent with the Government's objective, based on the Commission's central recommendation that the egg industry should move towards a basically free market.