§ Mr. Walter Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will ensure that the Potato Marketing Board does not amass a potato mountain rather than pass on price reductions to the retailers of chips and thus to the public.
§ Mr. BishopI have been asked to reply.
The Potato Marketing Board is not normally a trading board and its present buying programme is undertaken in support of the Government's guaranteed price system. The arrangements are designed to provide reasonable returns to producers without denying the market potatoes needed for human consumption nor resulting in other than reasonable prices for users or consumers. Users of potatoes purchase their supplies at market prices; the price of chips is not governed solely by raw potato prices.