§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table of figures giving a comparison of the hours, wages and conditions of farm workers, whose wage 161W increase he has opposed, with those paid on the major countries of the Common Market such as France, Germany and Italy.
§ Mr. StrangThe latest available information on a comparable basis is contained in a Eurostat Report "Earnings in Agriculture, 1975", published by the
AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS West Germany France Italy United Kingdom DM Pence FF Currency Pence Lira Pence Pence 7.06 129 8.90 98 1,137 80 91
AVERAGE NUMBER OF HOURS PAID West Germany France Italy United Kingdom 201 196 185 202 For West Germany and Italy the figures relate to September 1975, for France and the United Kingdom to October 1975. The data in national currencies have been converted into sterling at the exchange rates prevailing during the month of survey. These figures should be interpreted with caution, because of fluctuations in exchange rates and differences in the level of national prices.
The report, which is available in the Library of the House, also contains some information about the provision of benefits in kind, but not about conditions of employment.