HC Deb 12 July 1979 vol 970 cc238-9W
65. Mr. Hardy

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what increase in the price of home produced food he expects to see during the next 12 months.

Mrs. Sally Oppenheim

For the most important foodstuffs, the prices of home produced supplies are affected by the common agricultural policy in much the same way as imported supplies; and there are no separate forecasts for the prices of home produced supplies. Farm support prices will be raised by the recent devaluations of the green pound including the 5 per cent. devaluation under the previous Government last April, and by the recent CAP price-fixing: together these will add some 2 per cent. to average retail food prices. But actual market prices for foodstuffs are always subject to fluctuations for reasons such as the weather.