§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the total amount of support for agriculture by the Government for each year since 1979, expressed in actual and constant prices in each case.
§ Mr. MacleanSupport to the agriculture industry is provided directly by means of grants and subsidies, and indirectly through expenditure on research and development, advisory services, administration and so on.
Agriculture in the United Kingdom reports direct expenditure while the public expenditure White Paper covers total expenditure—direct and indirect—on agriculture, fisheries, food and forestry.
The table gives direct and total expenditure since 1978–79, both actual and at constant (1978–79) prices:
456W
£ million. Outturn Direct support Total support Actual prices Constant prices1 Actual prices Constant prices1 1978–79 537 537 1,008 1,008 1979–80 677 585 1,244 1,074 1980–81 1,012 751 1,639 1,217 1981–82 972 647 1,669 1,111 1982–83 1,432 890 2,157 1,341 1983–84 1,717 1,020 2,424 1,440 1984–85 1,712 968 2,419 1,368 1985–86 2,165 1,156 2,878 1,537 1986–87 1,449 750 2,199 1,138 1987–88 1,630 811 2,372 1,180 1988–892 1,380 648 2,346 1,101 1989–903 1,255 546 2,418 1,053 1 Based on 1987–79 prices.
2 Estimated.
3 Forecast.