§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many dairy farmers in Scotland applied for special case or exceptional hardship consideration on grounds of investment in pasteurisation equipment; and of those how many claims were accepted.
§ Mr. John MacKayPasteurisation equipment was included in their list of investments by 34 applicants for special case or exceptional hardship consideration. Of these 26 have been accepted by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland for further examination by the dairy produce quota tribunal for Scotland, which will decide in each case what, if any, additional quota may be awarded.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many direct milk sellers in Scotland were in production in the years 1981, 1982 and 1983; and if he will estimate the number following the introduction of the milk quotas.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe figures relating to 31 March in each year are as follows:
Number 1981 288 1982 280 1983 259 At the introduction of compulsory pasteurisation on 1 August 1983, the number was 116. I would anticipate no change following the introduction of milk quotas.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many dairy farmers in Scotland have applied for consideration as (a) special cases, (b) direct sellers and (c) outgoers; how many have been accepted in each case; and how many producer-retailers have failed to register as direct sellers for Scotland.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe total number of dairy farmers in Scotland who applied for special case consideration is 1,866. Some 190 producers have applied for registration as direct sellers and allocation of direct sales quota. Applications under the outgoers scheme totalled 371.
Of the producers who made special case applications, 1,611 have had cases reserved for further examination either by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland or by the dairy produce quota tribunal for 624W Scotland. All applications for direct sales quota have been accepted on prima facie grounds but estimated quotas have yet to be allocated. All producers known to be currently engaged in direct sales have applied.
No producer who made a valid application under the outgoers scheme has yet been rejected. An initial offer to proceed under the scheme has been made to smaller producers most dependent on dairying and the offer may be extended to other applicants should any of the smaller producers decide not to proceed.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many litres the outgoers scheme was designed to release in Scotland; and how many litres were made available by those applying under the outgoers scheme.
§ Mr. John MacKayIt is the Government's intention to purchase a total of 29.8 million litres in Scotland. Applicants have offered just over 130 million litres.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether direct sellers in Scotland who have had to introduce pasteurisation equipment will be treated any differently from direct sellers in England.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe Government recognise that the introduction of quotas may have given rise to particular problems for producers in Scotland affected by the introduction of compulsory pasteurisation there in 1983. After the dairy produce quota tribunal for Scotland has completed its consideration of special case and exceptional hardship applications the Government will consider what problems remain and the possibility of dealing with these in the context of reallocating quota purchased under the outgoers scheme.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the introduction of pasteurisation equipment qualifies Scottish farmers for special case or exceptional hardship consideration.
§ Mr. John MacKayConsideration of the case depends on whether the applicant satisfies the conditions of the Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations 1984. Investment in pasteurisation equipment does not on its own allow applications to be considered.