§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reply he has sent to the representations he has received from the Church Commissioners in respect of the Agricultural Holdings Bill [Lords]; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JoplingThe Church Commissioners met my noble Friend the Minister of State on 16 November to discuss the provisions of the Agricultural Holdings Bill, in particular the new rent formula contained in Clause 1.
Since this meeting clause 1 of the Bill has been debated in Committee in the House of Lords. In the light of the views expressed during this debate, the Minister of State undertook to see whether it would be possible to incorporate in the rent formula the sense of some of the proposals that had been made without destroying the work that had been done to make it possible for the Government to bring the Bill before Parliament in the first place. We are now considering this issue in consultation with interested parties.