§ 62. Mr. MarlandTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how the savings on planned expenditure outlined in the Autumn Statement will benefit farmers, taxpayers and consumers.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe Autumn Statement shows savings over previous plans for agriculture of £1,080 million during the three years 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91. These stem partly from external factors, such as the United States drought which reduced the cost of export subsidies, and partly from internal economies following recent wide-ranging reforms to the common agricultural policy.
I have always said that a common agricultural policy that was running the risk of being out of control was not in the interest of farmers and was no balance for future stability in agriculture. These reforms have brought the European Community budget under control and led to a significant reduction in the level of intervened stocks which were overhanging Community and world markets and depressing prices. Therefore farmers now have a firmer and more stable base for planning their future.
Taxpayers—including farmers—will benefit from these savings because they have improved the value for money of Government spending and have helped the Government to increase the provision for priority programmes while keeping public expenditure as a proportion of national income on a declining trend. They also enhance the scope for reducing taxation when it is prudent to do so.
These savings in themselves will not have any marked impact on consumers.