§ Mr. Bodyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of the latest estimates he has made 388W of expenditure in 1979–80 by the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce on market regulation under the common agricultural policy, together with comparable figures for 1978–79.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerFollowing are details of the latest estimates for the financial year 1979–80, together with comparable figures for the outturn in the financial year 1978–79.
EXPENDITURE BY THE INTERVENTION BOARD FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE Latest estimate of outturn 1979–80 Actual outturn 1978–79 £ million £ million Cereals 40.9 28.9 Beef and Veal –14.8 –20.8 Pigmeat 0.5 0.2 Sugar 55.1 84.7 Herbage Seeds 2.6 1.4 Hops 1.3 1.1 Processed Products 36.4 21.0 Milk Products 262.0 198.4 Others 22.1 15.3 406.1 330.2 Expenditure by the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce includes the beef variable premium scheme, refunds on imports and exports, certain production subsidies, the butter and school milk subsidies, the gross cost of aids for private storage and animal feed and the net cost of commodities bought into intervention and subsequently sold.
Of the estimated outturn for 1979–80, £386.8 million is expected to be financed from the guarantee section of the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund (EAGGF), the balance being financed from Exchequer funds in 1978–79, £305.1 million was financed from EAGGF. Some of the expenditure shown above benefits consumers and overseas exporting interests rather than United Kingdom producers.
The estimate of expenditure for 1979–80 also includes £12.9 million deferred from 1978–79 as a result of industrial action.