THE EARL OF MANSFIELDasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are aware that in 1966 an assurance was given by the British Sugar Corporation that if by 1969 the sugar beet crop in Scotland rose to 14,000 acres the factory would remain open, and whether they can state upon what grounds this pledge has now been disclaimed.
§ LORD HUGHESThe British Sugar Corporation said in 1966 that they would accept all acreage offered under contract to the Cupar factory up to a maximum of 16,000 acres of sugar beet grown in each of the years 1967, 1968, 1969. They said that the continuance of beet growing in Scotland after 1969 must depend on the extent to which Scottish farmers were willing to grow a sufficient acreage of beet to ensure that the factory at Cupar could be operated economically.
Last summer the Corporation informed Ministers that their reappraisal of the prospects at Cupar indicated that even 317WA the maximum acreage of beet which was likely to be grown in Scotland would not ensure economic operation in the future.
THE EARL OF MANSFIELDasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are aware that although the British Sugar Corporation claim that £1,750,000 of capital expenditure would be required to renovate the Cupar Sugar Factory, they have never given a breakdown of these alleged costs, nor over what period they would be spread; and whether no account has been taken of the offer by the Transport and General Workers' Union to negotiate productivity agreements with a view to keeping the factory running.
§ LORD HUGHESWhile commercial companies do not publicly disclose details of management operations, I can assure the noble Lord that these and other relevant figures were made available to Ministers and were fully taken into account by them before they assented to the Corporation's decision to close the Cupar factory. On the second part of the noble Lord's Question, neither the British Sugar Corporation nor the Government have had any such approach from the Transport and General Workers' Union.
THE EARL OF MANSFIELDasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they realise that in Scotland there is no "break crop" as there is in England and whether they have taken the transport subvention into account when calculating the saving to the Exchequer of the closing of the Cupar Sugar Beet Factory.
§ LORD HUGHESFor the majority of Scottish arable farmers temporary grass and other fodder crops such as turnips and swedes, together with potatoes, are the accepted "break" to cereals in the rotation. The transport subvention paid to Scottish beet growers is not paid by the Exchequer, nor do savings that arise from the closure of Cupar accrue to the Exchequer.