79. Commander LOCKER-LAMPSONasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture if the attention of his department has been drawn to the application of ex-service men for land for allotments and small holdings in the St. Neots district of Huntingdonshire; if fields Nos. 147, 148, 150, 158, 159 and 161 on the Ordnance Survey map, being part of Marshall's Farm and situate on Cemetery Lane, St. Neots, representing a total are of 57 acres 1 rood and 19 poles, have been inspected and passed by a representative of the Ministry as suitable for small holdings; and whether, in consequence, it is proposed to make this land available for the applicants by Michaelmas next?
Sir A. BOSCAWENThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. With regard to the second part, the farm referred to has been inspected with other land in the neighbourhood by the Ministry's District Commissioner, and the County Council have been 1748 in negotiation for the purchase of this property, with a view to supplying ex-service applicants at St. Neots and Eynesbury. The numbers of the fields and the area, however, are not exactly as stated by my hon. Friend. In reply to the last part of the question, I have only heard this morning that the owner has accepted the Council's offer, but can make no further statement at present.