§ 22. Mr. Burtasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the charities in charge of giving away free food to the needy.
§ 65. Mr. Steenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the charities in charge of giving away free food to the needy.
§ Mr. GummerI have received views both directly and through my Department on a number of matters relating to the efficient and speedy distribution of this food and I intend to continue to keep closely in touch with the admirable work of the charitable organisations concerned.
35. Mr. Pageasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which charities have taken up the offer to disburse free food to the needy; and if he will report on progress to date.
§ 41. Mr. Whitfieldasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which charities have taken up the offer to disburse free food to the needy; and if he will report on progress to date.
§ Mr. GummerI gave the list of charitable organisations in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes) on 29 January. As to progress so far, I refer my hon. Friends to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Jarrow (Mr. Dixon).
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§ 62. Mr. Tom Coxasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of the costs of the total surplus food aid so far allocated will be taken up by the costs of preparation of the food in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. GummerOf the United Kingdom costs covered by Community funds, I estimate that about 6 per cent. of those for butter are accounted for by re-packaging costs. For beef, the costs of preparation are for the charitable organisations themselves. No preparation is required for milk or cheese.
§ 63. Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people in Britain are entitled to receive food under the current European Economic Community scheme; and how many have actually received any.
§ Mr. GummerThe guidance I have given to charitable organisations on the coverage of the most needy group is in general terms, and I am not in a position to estimate how many people are covered by it. Nor does my Department maintain central records of the number of individuals who have received food.
§ 78. Mr. James Lamondasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met the directors of the charities charged with distributing European Economic Community food aid in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. GummerOn 22 January last.
§ Mr. Johnasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those commodities available in the United Kingdom for distribution under the European Economic Community food aid scheme which are not being distributed; and if he will give the reasons therefor.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 16 February 1987, c. 483]: The information is as follows:
Commodity Sugar from intervention stocks There are no intervention stocks in the United Kingdom for these products and supplies would thus need to be transported from elsewhere in the Community. The cost would be disproportionate to likely demand. Flour milled from intervention stocks of bread-making wheat Olive oil from intervention stocks Full milk yoghurt from the open market We are concentrating on butter, cheese and milk, and not yoghurt, as these are the dairy products most useful to needy people.
§ Mr. A. J. Beithasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has any plans to make surplus butter available at reduced cost to retirement pensioners not in receipt of non-contributory social security benefit.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 16 February 1987, c. 482]: Butter is currently available to charities for distribution to the most needy under Community arrangements which apply until the end of March. There are no plans to introduce the social butter scheme in the United Kingdom.