§ MR. HEATON-ARMSTRONG (Suffolk, Sudbury)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if he is aware that in the county of West Suffolk six months ago 240 applications were sent in for 3,000 acres of land, but 461 up to the present time nothing has been done by the county council to meet these demands; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take to compel this county council to carry out its obligations under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1907.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) The Board are aware that no land has as yet been actually acquired for small holdings in West Suffolk, but the county council have not been idle. Every applicant has been interviewed by subcommittees, valuers have been employed to advise on suitable land, the county council are now negotiating for the acquisition of several properties in different parts of the county, and we hope to receive several schemes from them in the near future.