61. Mr. ROBINSONasked the Minister of Agriculture if he will make inquiries as to the number of small holdings in the West Riding of Yorkshire; whether any applications for small holdings have been refused; and if there is a waiting list of persons desirous of obtaining small holdings in the county?
Mr. GUINNESSThe number of agricultural holdings above one acre, and not exceeding 50 acres, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, as recorded in the Agricultural Returns for 1926, was 15,388. The number of small holdings provided by the County Council since 1st January, 1908, is 503. The latest available figures show that up to the 31st March, 1926, 31 applicants had been rejected as unsuitable, while on the same date there were 377 approved applicants who had not been provided with holdings.
§ Mr. PALINGIs it not a fact that a number of these 377 are ex-service men who were approved as being fit for small holdings, and have been waiting from about 1920?