§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he intends to make use of the provisions of the Community's beef regime to allow social institutions to qualify for the purchase of beef in intervention stocks at reduced prices.
§ Mr. John SilkinThe European Commission has agreed that the United672W Kingdom should be authorised to sell up to 1,000 tonnes of boneless beef cuts from its intervention stocks at reduced prices to social institutions. The meat will be sold at 50 per cent. of the current fixed selling price to those National Health Service hospitals and residential welfare establishments run by local authorities which register with the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce and agree to abide by the conditions of the scheme. In particular, the institutions will be required to give an undertaking that beef bought under these arrangements represents additional beef consumption and does not displace existing consumption. It is expected that the pilot scheme will run for approximately six months, after which its operation will be reviewed.