§ 54. Sir D. NEWTONasked the Minister of Agriculture how much land has been let to smallholders by each county council and county borough council, respectively, under the Land Settlement Acts since 1920 to the present date, and for the 12 months ended 1st January, 1930?
§ Mr. N. BUXTONAs a long statistical statement is necessarly involved, I propose, with the hon. Member's consent, to circulate the answer in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ It is presumed that the hon. Member desires information as to the action taken by local authorities in regard to small holdings since the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act of 1919. This Act gave legislative sanction and effect to the land settlement scheme for ex-service men which was started on the 18th December, 1918, and this date has been taken for the purpose of the following statement.
1699| County. | Area on the 18th December, 1918. | Area on the 31st December, 1929. | Area newly acquired during year ended 31st December, 1929. |
| ENGLAND—continued. | Acres. | Acres. | Acres. |
| Hereford | 1,752 | 4,776 | 26 |
| Hertford | 2,900 | 6,460 | 3 |
| Hunts | 4,564 | 11,102 | — |
| Isle of Ely | 6,194 | 13,986 | — |
| Isle of Wight | 851 | 1,353 | — |
| Kent | 2,050 | 5,769 | 20 |
| Lancashire | 238 | 4,405 | — |
| Leicester | 3,552 | 8,106 | — |
| Lines (Holland) | 8,729 | 13,083 | 14 |
| Lines. (Kestevon.) | 4,351 | 6,458 | 267 |
| Lines. (Lindsey) | 4,402 | 8,506 | — |
| Middlesex | 219 | 1,133 | — |
| Norfolk | 12,543 | 27,863 | 503 |
| Northampton | 2,383 | 4,441 | — |
| Northumberland | 2,913 | 4,837 | — |
| Notts | 943 | 4,287 | — |
| Oxford | 2,236 | 6,794 | — |
| Rutland | 531 | 774 | — |
| Salop | 2,072 | 6,234 | 254 |
| Soke of Peterborough | 579 | 3,641 | — |
| Somerset | 8,807 | 21,428 | 40 |
| Staffs | 3,238 | 7,201 | 3 |
| Suffolk, East | 1,243 | 4,233 | 145 |
| Suffolk, West | 2,558 | 7,617 | — |
| Surrey | 1,471 | 2,509 | ½ |
| Sussex, East | 366 | 2,333 | — |
| Sussex, West | 170 | 2,041 | — |
| Warwick | 1,823 | 5,457 | 214 |
| Westmorland | 59 | 202 | — |
| Wilts | 5,727 | 15,847 | 7¼ |
| Worcester | 2,381 | 5,302 | 247 |
| Yorks., East Riding | 4,489 | 7,992 | 382 |
| Yorks., North Riding | 1,179 | 3,154 | — |
| Yorks., West Riding | 4,961 | 13,409 | 361 |
| TOTAL—English Counties | 158,148 | 373,408 | 3,663¾ |
| WALES. | |||
| Anglesey | 2,220 | 6,262 | — |
| Brecon | 504 | 1,169 | — |
| Caernarvon | 2,280 | 3,031 | — |
| Cardigan | 3,164 | 3,303 | — |
| Carmarthen | 1,151 | 4,024 | 4 |
| Denbighshire | 3,014 | 5,823 | — |
| Flint | 969 | 3,577 | — |
| Glamorgan | 3,315 | 6,098 | 147 |
| Merioneth | 2,487 | 3,939 | — |
| Monmouth | 2,605 | 5,637 | 34 |
| Montgomery | 2,736 | 7,633 | 164 |
| Pembroke | 1,657 | 5,417 | 278 |
| Radnor | 338 | 2,640 | — |
| TOTAL—WELSH COUNTIES | 26,440 | 58,553 | 627 |
| TOTAL—ENGLAND AND WALES (Counties) | 184,588 | 431,961 | 4,290¾ |
| II.—County Borough, Councils. | |||
| County Boroughs. | Area on the 18th December, 1918. | Area on the 31st December, 1929. | Area newly acquired during year ended 31st December, 1929. |
| ENGLAND. | Acres. | Acres. | Acres. |
| Barrow-in-Furness | 56 | 56 | — |
| Birkenhead | — | 52 | — |
| Birmingham | — | 3,344 | — |
| Blackburn | 98 | 98 | — |
| Bolton | — | 99 | — |
| Brighton | 186 | 186 | — |
| Bristol | 108 | 179 | — |
| Burnley | 105 | 203 | — |
| Chester | 61 | 61 | — |
| Coventry | 128 | 354 | — |
| Eastbourne | — | 67 | — |
| Hastings | — | 50 | — |
| Hull | — | 172 | — |
| Leicester | 78 | 79 | — |
| Manchester | — | 59 | — |
| Newcastle-on-Tyne | 88 | 88 | — |
| Northampton | 319 | 626 | — |
| Oxford | — | 223 | — |
| Southport | — | 113 | — |
| Stockport | — | 21 | — |
| Stoke | — | 199 | — |
| Tynemouth | 239 | — | — |
| Wallasey | — | 98 | — |
| Walsall | — | 53 | — |
| Wolverhampton | — | 143 | — |
| York | — | 3 | — |
| TOTAL—English County Boroughs | 1,466 | 6,626 | — |
| WALES. | |||
| Cardiff | 466 | 465 | — |
| Newport | 249 | 248 | — |
| Swansea | — | 19 | — |
| TOTAL—Welsh County Boroughs | 715 | 732 | — |
| TOTAL—County Boroughs | 2,181 | 7,868 | — |
| GRAND TOTAL—ENGLAND AND WALES. | 186,769 | 439,319 | 4,290¾ |
§ NOTE.—The Table does not include any holding sold by Councils. The figures in Column 4 are included in Column 3. Some land held and let on 18th December, 1918, or acquired between that date and the 31st December, 1929, has been given up
§ 56. Mr. EDEasked the Minister of Agriculture how many applications were received by his Department during 1929 from county councils to purchase or rent land for small holdings; how many were granted; the acreage granted and refused; and the number of persons who will be settled on the land obtained?
§ Mr. BUXTONThe number of applications received from county councils 1702 during 1929 was 51 relating to a total area of 4,859 acres. Of these 50 were approved and one covering 238 acres was refused. Fourteen of these schemes did not mature. The remaining 36 schemes cover a total area of 4,076 acres, of which 630 acres were previously held on lease. The 3,446 acres of additional land actually acquired will provide for 109 new holdings and the enlargement of some existing holdings.