asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement as a result of his review of forestry policy.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to publish his review on forestry policy.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, in his anticipated review of forestry policy, he will ensure that private commercial growers and users of timber are adequately consulted as well as the Forestry Commission.

A document will be published later this month, as a basis for consultations with all interests concerned, and my right hon. Friend will then make a statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the latest change in the Retail Food Price Index.

The Food Index results for 16th May show that the annual rate of increase has fallen to 6·4 per cent. This is the latest date for which information is available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will detail the retail prices of all basic foodstuffs in June, 1970, and at the most recent convenient date.

The following table shows the average retail prices, on 16th June, 1970, and 18th April, 1972 (the latest date for which information is available), of about 80 important items of food as collected for the purposes of the Index of Retail Food Prices:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during the 23 months ended May, 1972, by how much percentage retail prices, respectively, for beef, lamb, pork, mutton, offal, sausages, and poultry have increased; and what steps he is taking to prevent further increases.

As to the first part of the question, I will, with permission, circulate the information in the Official Report as the answer contains a number of figures. As to the second part, I refer my hon. Friend to my reply earlier today to the hon. Member for Lewisham, North (Mr. Moyle).The following tables shows the percentage increases between 16th June, 1970, and 18th April, 1972, the latest date for which information is available, in the average prices collected for the purposes of the Index of Retail Food Prices. No comparable information is available for mutton or offal.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his policy towards an increase in the price of bread.

I issued a statement on 13th June when it was announced that certain bread prices were to be increased and I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what use his Department has made of computers in recent calculations about food prices.

Computers have been used as appropriate for processing the results of the National Food Survey and in other work relating to food prices.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he proposes to take to encourage off-farm storage of grain in the event of entry to the European Economic Community.

We are currently examining the position to see whether the situation after our entry into the European Economic Community justifies any additional encouragement to off-farm storage whether for intervention purposes or as an encouragement to improved cereals marketing.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what body will have the responsibility for operating the intervention arrangements for pig meat on entry to the European Economic Community.

The Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce, the establishment of which is provided for in the European Communities Bill.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by how much production of home beef has increased since June, 1970.

Home fed production of beef and veal has risen from a total of 891,000 tons in the year ending June, 1970, to an estimated total of over 900,000 in the year ending June,1972. With the steady expansion of the cattle breeding herd, home-fed supplies should increase appreciably from now on.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied, in view of the scarcity of beef supplies, that there are adequate stocks of beef extract; and if he will make a statement.

I have no information indicating a shortage of supplies of beef extract.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent beef is now on sale to British housewives at prices of, or in excess of, £1 per pound.

The latest figures available to me for a variety of cuts do not indicate that beef is selling at such price levels.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has had from pensioners' organisations on beef prices; and what reply he has sent.

I have received a number of representations, including some from pensioners, about the recent increase in beef prices. I have said that I took action to suspend tariffs on beef and veal in order to help moderate the rises, but that I am not yet satisfied that the present situation calls for regulation of exports. I am, however, continuing to keep the situation under close review.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a further statement on the recent increase in meat prices.

I have nothing to add to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend, the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. Dykes) and others.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now take steps to prohibit the export of home-produced beef.

I have nothing to add to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Lewisham, North (Mr. Moyle) and others.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further action he is taking to prevent the rise in beef prices.

I have nothing to add to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Lewisham, North (Mr. Moyle) and others.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current price of a pound of beef in London, Paris and Brussels.

Current prices for beef in London, Paris and Brussels are not available. In view of differences in quality and definition, precise comparisons are not possible, but the latest available official quotations for some broadly similar cuts of beef are as follows:

asked the Minisster of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what was the average retail price of beef in June, 1970, June, 1971, and June, 1972, respectively.

The following table shows average retail prices of beef, collected for the purposes of the Index of Retail Food Prices, on 16th June, 1970, and 22nd June, 1971. Comparable information is not yet available for June, 1972.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on his official announcement made on Friday, 9th June, that he is giving consideration to the imposition of a quota system on exports if beef prices continue to rise; and to what extent on Great Britain's entry he would be enabled to operate such a system against exports of beef to the countries of the Ten.

I made no such official announcement. I am however keeping the beef situation under close and continuing review and, while I am satisfied that in current circumstances export controls would not be justified, necessary contingency planning is in hand.Export restrictions are prohibited by Article 34 of the Treaty of Rome, but the Community has wide powers of action to deal with disturbances of the market.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of the United Kingdom's meat imports comes from countries where producers use antibiotics as growth stimulants.

The information readily available shows that most of our meat imports come from countries which either do not use antibiotics for growth purposes, or impose controls similar to our own.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what additional measures aimed at reversing the sharp increase in beef prices he intends to introduce.

I have nothing to add to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Lewisham, North (Mr. Moyle) and others.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce measures to promote additional supplies of home-produced beef during the next few years.

No. It is clear that action already taken by the Government has given producers the confidence necessary to ensure continuing expansion of beef production.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware that, in the week ended 27th May, the price of English lamb rose by 10p a lb. due to the demand for exports to France; what action he proposes to take to ensure adequate supplies of lamb in Great Britain; and to what extent Great Britain's entry into the European Economic Community will affect the lamb supply situation.

The average Smithfield price for English lamb in the week ending 27th May, fell l·9p per lb. from the average price for the previous week, while information available to the Ministry on retail prices showed some weakening. Exports of lamb to France were higher in the first four months this year than in the same period last year but they still represented only a small proportion of total lamb supplies on our market. Due to Government encouragement, expansion is now taking place in the United Kingdom sheep breeding flock and I do not expect our entry into the Community to affect this expansion.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware of the continuing concern felt by the wholesale and retail butchers and the housewife at the rise in the cost of meat, that further prices of up to 8p per lb. are envisaged, and that these price rises are due in part to the Common Market's 20 per cent. tariff on beef imports being suspended; and whether he will now take further action within the European Economic Community to safeguard British interests.

I have nothing to add to the replies I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Lewisham, North (Mr. Moyle) and others and my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. Dykes) and others.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when Danish subsidies of farm exports to this country will cease upon entry to the European Economic Community.

The Community rules of competition, particularly Articles 91–4 of the Treaty of Rome, will apply from 1st February, 1973, and will prohibit export subsidies between member States. The detailed arrangements for agricultural transition have not yet been settled.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes he expects in the present European Economic Community surplus of sugar in 1973 and 1974.

Given normal beet yields, I would expect the surplus of the enlarged Community in 1973 to be much the same as the average surplus of the existing Community of Six over the last few years. It is too early to forecast the position in 1974.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by how much butter prices have fallen in recent weeks.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of trends in the price of butter.

First hand prices of all the main varieties of butter fell by between £30 and £57 a ton on 5th June. Official figures of retail prices are not available beyond 18th April. But I expect recent reductions at first hand to be fully reflected in appropriate reductions in the shops. Prices in some shops have already come down by 2p to 3p per pound and by more than this in some cases.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what tonnage of compound fertilisers he anticipates will be delivered to farmers in June and July compared with deliveries during the same period last year.

I cannot give a precise estimate, but I expect deliveries in June and July, 1972, to be less than in the corresponding months of 1971, when they were exceptionally large.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent after entry the adoption of European Economic Community regulations will affect the volume of pigmeat cured under the Wiltshire cure process.

Under the EEC pig meat regulations, the balance between Wiltshire cure and other curing processes will then, as now, be a matter for individual commercial decisions by curers.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied that adequate facilities are available to farmers who require credit from the Agriculture Mortgage Corporation; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend is satisfied that they are adequate, particularly as the AMC has extended its facilities in recent months and now offers a variety of loan options and of repayment arrangements.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will encourage afforestation in regions suffering from high unemployment.

The contribution to rural employment is one of the factors which my right hon. Friends have had to assess in their review of forestry policy. I must ask my hon. Friend to await the publication of this, which has been promised later this month.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has considered the evidence submitted by the Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society to his Department on the export of animals for slaughter abroad.

Yes, and we have discussed it with representatives of the Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society. We undertook to keep my hon. Friend informed and will do so when consultation with the Belgian authorities arising on this report has been concluded.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether action has been taken with the European Economic Community to regularise the position relative to the use of propyl gallate and ethoxyovin in food production.

Yes.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his discussions with the chairman of the agricultural section of the European Commission, Signor Carlo Scarascia Mugnozza.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for West Ham, North (Mr. Arthur Lewis) on 12th June.—[Vol. 838, c. 213.]

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he has for improving consumer representation on food matters, in view of the changes consequent upon Common Market entry; and if he will make a statement.

There are representatives of consumers on several committees which advise me on food matters. These are already beginning to be brought into consultation on EEC questions, and this practice will grow. I and my officials are also in direct touch with consumer organisations.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied with the current facilities at United Kingdom ports for the cleansing of vehicles used for the carriage of livestock to and from the Continent; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Dover (Mr. Peter Rees) on 7th June.—[Vol. 838, c. 103.]

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the guaranteed price of wheat in the United Kingdom for the coming year; what is the present market price; and how these figures compare with the present basic intervention price in the European Economic Community.

The guaranteed price of wheat for 1972–73 is £34·40 a ton. The present United Kingdom market price is £28·23. The European Economic Community's basic intervention price is currently £44·35.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current rate of annual agricultural expansion.

About 4½ per cent, in 1971–72 compared with 1970–71.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he intends to take to ensure that adequate timber resources are available in areas around suitable centres for pulp mills and other wood-using industries.

Wood-using industries based upon home grown timber obviously benefit from access to closely adjacent supplies. But this depends upon land becoming available for planting in the right area, at the right time, and on a basis that would not be detrimental to local agricultural and amenity considerations.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now take steps to assist the British table wine industry in view of the effect on the cheaper table wine trade of entry to the European Economic Community.

No. Having regard to the terms negotiated, I see no need.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the future of the functions of river authorities on land drainage.

The Government are still considering the future organisation of the land drainage functions of river authorities in the light of consultations with interested bodies earlier this year. I hope to be able to make an announcement soon.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now make a statement on penalties for those found guilty of dumping toxic substances in the North Sea.

I cannot add to the reply which my hon. Friend, the Minister of State, gave the hon. Member on 13th June.—[Vol. 838, c. 263.]

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the revenue from the churches in

asked the Minister of Agriculturies, Fisheries and Food what representations he had made to the Commission of the European Economic Community prior to their making of a draft directive on hill farming on 1st July, 1972.

The Commission has not yet submitted a draft Directive to the Council and when they do we shall be fully consulted. His recent visit allowed the Vice President of the Commission to see something of our hill farming and there have been other informal discussions with Commission officials both in Brussels and during visits by them to the United Kingdom.

asked the Minister of Agriculturies, Fisheries and Food how many live sheep and cattle, respectively, were exported to the European Economic Community countries during each of the past five years.

The following are the figures:Scotland after the imposition of value added tax; and what representations he has had from these bodies.

A church would be accountable for VAT only in respect of any taxable business activities, and it would, for that purpose, be treated in the same way as a commercial undertaking. No estimate of any revenue from churches in Scotland is available. The Churches Main Committee has written to my right hon. Friend and I have met a joint deputation from the Committee and the National Council of Social Service.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he is aware of the concern felt by the Church of England that the imposition of value added tax will impose additional costs to that Church of £1 million per annum; and whether he will agree to meet representatives of that Church to discuss this problem;(2) whether he is aware of the concern felt by the Roman Catholic Church that the imposition of value added tax will impose additional costs to this Church of £300,000 per annum; and whether he will agree to meet representatives of this Church to discuss these problems.

I met a joint deputation from the National Council of Social Service and the Churches Main Committee, which included representatives from these two Churches, on 25th May.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, in view of continuing heavy unemployment in the regions, he will reconsider his attitude to Regional Employment Premium and seek to extend it for another five years.

I have nothing to add to my right hon. Friend's announcement in his Budget Statement on 21st March.—[Vol. 833, c. 1369.]

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will broaden the administrative tests applied for acceptance of works of art in lieu of estate duty under the Finance Act, 1956, and for exemption of works of art and other objects from estate duty under the Finance Act, 1930, respectively.

Yes. The Government have decided that the existing tests do not take full account of the needs of local authority and university institutions. The standards applicable to their collections will therefore be used in future both for acceptance of works of art and for exemption from estate duty. A work of art offered in lie of estate duty will be accepted if the Treasury is satisfied that it would be a pre-eminent addition to a public collection, whether national, local authority or university.Similarly, the less strigent test used to assess whether a work of art or other object should be granted exemption from estate duty will be: is it good enough to be displayed in a public collection?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a list of the persons, and positions held, with their salaries and expenses which are met directly or indirectly from Treasury sources, where they can also earn moneys during their normal working day and retain fees received for books, articles, television and radio broadcasts connected with their Government employment or appointment for which they received Treasury payments.

I regret that the information required to answer this Question, which relates to a wide variety of persons, is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that during 1971 in the Metropolitan Police area there were 300,131 cases of reported suspected evasion of the payment of road fund licences, by the police and traffic wardens; and on this basis what is the actual or estimated loss to the revenue.

Yes, these statistics, however, relate to enforcement and, as has been explained in previous answers, cannot form the basis of an estimate of the loss to the revenue.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the annual rate of growth in money supply, expressed as a percentage, recorded on the latest month in 1972 for which figures are available; and how he reconciles this with the current rate of growth.

The money supply (M3, seasonally adjusted) grew by about 2 per cent. in the month to mid-April. Because of erratic fluctuations it is misleading to gross up monthly movements into annual rates. It is usual for the money supply to grow rapidly at times when spending is picking up after a period of slow growth.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is now his intention to counsel or give a direction to the Bank of England to diminish the note issue.

No. The recent increase in the note issue reflects the strength of consumers' expenditure. Seasonal factors are also at work.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report his proposals for the criteria for sales promotion expenditure which he is seeking to negotiate with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.

I would prefer not to comment until negotiations have been completed. Thereafter the results will be made known.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT the number of applications he has received in each of the last twelve months for licences for pharmaceutical products to be given as a right which is due to expire on 30th June, 1972.

The number of applications for product licences of right received by my Department up to 9th June is as follows:

The 709 applications relate to about 20,000 medicinal products.Those concerned have the opportunity of making application for product licences of right at any time before 1st July, 1972.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many disabled people in the United Kingdom and Scotland, respectively, have had telephones installed under the scheme operated by the Supplementary Benefits Commission for each year since the start of the scheme.

The Commission does not operate a scheme as such for the installation of telephones, but is prepared to use its discretionary powers to help people on supplementary benefit with the cost of a telephone in exceptional cases where it would be the only means of communication in an emergency. In the year ending August, 1970, the first year for which figures are available, the Commission provided help with telephone costs in 99 cases in the United Kingdom, four of which were in Scotland. In the year ending August, 1971, the figures were respectively 43 and four, and in the six months ending February, 1972, seven and two.Under the Social Work (Scotland) Act, 1968, and the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, 1970, local authorities have power to help certain handicapped people with a telephone.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to enable dentists to practise preventive dentistry within the National Health Services.

I would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Halifax (Dr. Summerskill) on 19th June.—[Vol. 839, c. 41.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average delay in admission into hospital of cases, other than emergency cases, within the area of the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board; and what is the average delay for such cases in that part of this area for which the Walsall Hospital Management Committee is responsible.

Statistics are available from hospital activity analysis, and the following table shows the average time waited for admission by those patients who have completed their stay in hospital:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in the light of the Report and Survey of the British Dental Health Foundation, a copy of which is in his possession, he will introduce legislation to abolish or reduce dental charges.

No. The new system of charges introduced last year was designed to give patients a financial incentive to visit their dentists regularly. About 60 per cent. of all courses of treatment do not attract a charge either because the patient is exempt or the treatment is free, and of those patients liable to pay a charge many pay no more and some pay less than under the former system. The Government also extended and considerably improved the arrange- ments for financial help to those patients who were not exempt from dental charges.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will issue a directive to hospital authorities forbidding Press and television interviews where patients have been involved in serious accidents and where the statements made by such patients could be damaging to others involved.

Hospital authorities cannot act on behalf of the patient except when such interviews would endanger his health or interfere with the working of the hospital.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will grant extra heating allowance to persons on supplementary benefit who have to move to new all-electric houses.

The Supplementary Benefits Commission already helps in appropriate cases where a supplementary benefit recipient incurs extra expense in the initial period of adjustment from one form of heating to another. Where there are continuing exceptional heating expenses, including any exceptional expenses arising from the use of central heating, the Commission will consider making a discretionary addition to benefit.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many cases of streptomycin deafness are known to his Department; and what research his Department has undertaken into the relationship between certain types of drugs and deafness.

Information on some hundreds of cases of impairment of hearing due to streptomycin and associated antibiotics has been published throughout the world since its introduction. It is well known that deafness is not an uncommon side effect of prolonged treatment with these antibiotics. Research on deafness is included in the Medical Research Councils' field of activity. The Council is currently supporting work on ototoxicity in drugs under its scheme of research grants. In 1970 the Committee on Safety of Drugs was asked to review the matter, but, in view of the adequacy of warnings on the subject in standard references and in the manufacturer's literature, concluded that no additional safeguarding action was necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make areas of high population and heavy industry, such as Mansfield, into designated areas for physiotherapists so that they can receive extra allowances to help redress the imbalance of physiotherapists in such places as compared with the rest of the country.

There is no provision for inducement payments in the national agreements and in any case objective comparison of establishment needs in different areas would be difficult in the absence of general agreement on staffing standards, referred to in my reply to the hon. Member on 13th June.—[Vol. 838, c. 245.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in view of the health hazards resulting from smoking, if he will have further discussions with advertising agencies, sales-promotion organisations and cigarette companies to reduce their sales pressure techniques; and if he will now consider new legislation to restrict the sale of tobacco.

I have nothing to add to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Worcestershire, South (Sir G. Nabarro) on 11th April.—[Vol. 834, c. 1008–9.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many civil servants are required to operate the family allowance scheme; and how many claimants this covers.

At 1st June, 1972, there were some 1,250 staff employed in the Family Allowances Branch at Newcastle Central Office. Additionally a smaller staff effort arises in other offices through- out the country, but to give a reliable estimate of this would involve an inordinate amount of work.There are over 4¼ million families in receipt of family allowance for nearly 7 million children. The total number of children in these families, including the first child, for whom the allowance is not payable, is over 11 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many civil servants are required to administer the supplementary benefits scheme; and how many claimants this covers.

Owing to the advanced programme of integration of contributory benefit and supplementary benefit local offices, it is no longer possible separately to identify the staff engaged specifically on either type of work, and to provide a reliable estimate of apportionment would involve an inordinate amount of work. However, as a rough approximation, it may be taken that of the total of 64,713 staff engaged on social security work, other than central administration, on 1st April, 1972, slightly more than one-third were employed on supplementary benefits work. On 16th May there were 2,951,000 supplementary benefit claimants.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much has so far been spent on advertising the right to means-tested benefits since the Government came to office in June, 1970.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Easington (Mr. Dormand) on 15th June.—[Vol. 838, c. 403–4.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many families have claimed free welfare foods since April, 1971.

The number of claims, including repeat and renewal claims, for free welfare milk and vitamins made by families in Great Britain with a low income in the period April, 1971, to March, 1972, inclusive totalled some 229,000 of which about 147,000 were successful. These figures do not include families with an expectant mother or young children and receiving supplementary benefit or family income supplement who automatically qualify for free welfare milk and vitamins without making a separate claim.In addition, during the same period, about 190,000 free welfare milk token books were issued against claims made on grounds of family size irrespective of income or for handicapped children aged 5 to 16 unable to attend school.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many extra civil servants were needed to operate family income supplement during the initial claim period; and how many are now employed.

During the initial take-on period approximately 200 staff were employed in the Family Income Supplement Branch at Blackpool Central Office augmented by the use of casual staff in local offices. Currently the work is almost entirely centred at Blackpool Central Office which now employs some 140 staff on this work plus a small number of casual staff.