asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the sheep industry about exports to the EEC; and if he will make a statement.

The representatives of the sheep industry have made known to me their views about exports to the EEC. My right hon. Friend will bear these in mind when considering the new proposals that the Commission is expected to make for a Community sheepmeat régime.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the level of the United Kingdom sheep breeding flock today; and how this compares with predictions in "Food From Our Own Resources".

The provisional outcome of the June 1977 census puts the United Kingdom sheep breeding flock at 13·697 million. The White Paper "Food from Our Own Resources" made no prediction about the future size of the breeding flock but gave a projection of a possible United Kingdom output of sheepmeat in 1980 of 296,000 tonnes. It pointed out that the breeding flock had expanded since 1972 and there was scope for some increase in productivity.