Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture, Fisheries and Food – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 21 March 1991.
William Hague
, Richmond (Yorks)
12:00,
21 March 1991
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by how much farm gate prices have increased since 1979 relative to the retail prices index.
David Curry
, Skipton and Ripon
The index of producer prices of agricultural products increased at an average annual rate of 3·6 per cent. between 1979 and 1990 compared with 7·5 per cent. for all items in the retail prices index.
William Hague
, Richmond (Yorks)
Does my hon. Friend agree that that shows that the British farmer has given tremendous value for money to the consumer in the past 12 years? Does he further agree that if every other industry in Britain had achieved efficiency and productivity improvements comparable with British agriculture during the same period, we should be one of the richest nations on earth?
David Curry
, Skipton and Ripon
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend The farmers of Richmond, Skipton and Ripon are in the forefront of the achievement of which my hon. Friend speaks.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
