§ MR. BENNETT (Oxfordshire, Woodstock)I beg to ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether the Board intends to issue to the county councils a circular pointing out the urgent necessity that schemes should be submitted to the Board by the end of July at latest.
§ THE TREASURER OF THE HOUSEHOLD (Sir EDWARD Strachey,) Somersetshire, S.The Commissioners are in constant communication with the county councils, and will do all that they can to expedite the preparation of schemes. We do not think that the issue of a circular and the prescription of a date as proposed would really assist the object which my hon. friend has in view.
§ MR. BENNETTIs not the Board of Agriculture of opinion that seven months is a long enough period to formulate a scheme?
§ SIR EDWARD STRACHEYI have already stated it is impossible to fix a date. The hon. Member may be perfectly certain that the Board of Agriculture is anxious to expedite schemes.
§ MR. MORRELL (Oxfordshire, Henley)What is a scheme? Does it necessarily apply to all the applications received by a county council, or might a county council issue separate schemes for separate parts of their area?
§ SIR EDWARD STRACHEYwas understood to reply that the practice was to bring up a scheme for a particular area where it was desired to apply the Act.
§ MR. BENNETTI beg to ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, how many schemes have by this time been received from county councils by the Board of Agriculture; and whether, in these schemes, any definite proposals have been made for giving notice next Michaelmas to any landowners or tenants for any land.
§ SIR EDWARD STRACHEYFifteen schemes have been received by the Board, of which one has been confirmed, nine provisionally approved, and five are now under consideration. The land comprised in these schemes has all been obtained by the councils by voluntary agreement, and so far as the Board are aware no notice has as yet been given with a view to its acquisition by compulsion.
§ MR. LANE-FOX (Yorkshire, Barkston Ash)Has there been any difficulty in obtaining land under the scheme?
§ SIR EDWARD STRACHEYI cannot answer that Question without notice.