§ 47. Major Legge-Bourkeasked the Minister of Agriculture how many acres of land have been acquired, county by county, for smallholdings since the war in England and Wales; how many requests by county councils for permission to purchase land have been rejected on the ground of prices being too high; and what is the policy of his Department in determining the amount that should be paid.
§ Mr. G. BrownAs the reply to the first part of the Question includes a number of figures, I propose, with permission, to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT. In reply to the remaining parts of the Question the maximum price, which, in accordance with the Government's policy, local authorities may pay for land is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947. The case does not, therefore, arise of requests for permission to purchase which have to be refused on the score of price.
§ Major Legge-BourkeIs the hon. Gentleman not aware that in certain places it has proved impossible to buy land because permission cannot be granted to the county council to buy at the high prices asked?
§ Mr. BrownI have no information on that matter. If the hon. and gallant Member has knowledge of any such cases, perhaps he will send me details of them.
§ Following are the figures:
| Area of land acquired by smallholdings authorities between the period 1st October, 1945, and 31st March, 1950 | |||
| — | 1. Land acquired by purchase or leasing | 2. Land in Column 1 previously held on lease | 3. Net addition to estate |
| ENGLAND | Acres | Acres | Acres |
| Bedfordshire | 792 | 368 | 424 |
| Berkshire | 56 | 56 | — |
| Buckinghamshire | 686 | 686 | — |
| Cambridgeshire | 568 | 249 | 319 |
| Cornwall | 2 | — | 2 |
| Cumberland | 356 | 347 | 9 |
| Devon | 483 | 287 | 196 |
| Dorset | 1 | — | 1 |
| Durham | 609 | 594 | 15 |
| Essex | 272 | — | 272 |
| Gloucestershire | 228 | 91 | 137 |
| Hants | 186 | 186 | — |
| Herefordshire | 6 | — | 6 |
| Hertfordshire | 107 | 107 | — |
| Huntingdonshire | 338 | 338 | — |
| Isle of Ely | 296 | 296 | — |
| Kent | 16 | — | 16 |
| Lancashire | 40 | — | 40 |
| Leicestershire | 58 | 58 | — |
| Lincolnshire (Holland) | 1,995 | 258 | 1,737 |
| Lincolnshire (Kesteven) | 5 | — | 5 |
| Norfolk | 13 | — | 13 |
| Oxfordshire | 40 | — | 40 |
| Somerset | 41 | 36 | 5 |
| Suffolk, East | 141 | 141 | — |
| Sussex, East | 6 | 6 | — |
| Sussex, West | 4 | — | 4 |
| Warwickshire | 285 | — | 285 |
| Wiltshire | 40 | — | 40 |
| Worcestershire | 265 | 200 | 65 |
| Yorkshire, East Riding | 21 | 21 | — |
| Yorkshire, West Riding | 274 | 274 | — |
| Total, England | 8,230 | 4,599 | 3,631 |
| WALES | |||
| Carmarthenshire | 59 | 59 | — |
| Denbighshire | 22 | 22 | — |
| Flintshire | 6 | 6 | — |
| Glamorganshire | 328 | 328 | — |
| Merionethshire | 244 | 244 | — |
| Monmouthshire | 164 | 164 | — |
| Total, Wales | 823 | 823 | — |
| Total, England and Wales | 9,053 | 5,422 | 3,631 |
§ Note:—No other counties acquired land during the period.
1359§ 48. Major Legge-Bourkeasked the Minister of Agriculture how many applications for smallholdings have been made since the end of the war; how many have been satisfied; how many permanently rejected; and how many acres will be required to satisfy the remainder.
§ Mr. G. BrownIn the period 1st October, 1945, to 30th September, 1949, the latest for which complete figures are available, smallholdings authorities in England and Wales received 15,984 applications. Three thousand one hundred and nineteen were granted; 2,533 were refused; and at the end of the period 9,950 applications for a total of 248,000 acres were outstanding.
§ Major Legge-BourkeDoes the hon. Gentleman not consider that the demands for smallholdings are not being met at a sufficiently high rate? What steps is he taking to try to speed up the matter?
§ Mr. BrownI do not think that the figures show that at all. Following the coming into operation of Part IV of the Act, which was subsequent to the period of the figures I have given, outstanding lists will have to be gone through in accordance with the degrees of preference now laid down under Part IV. It may be that the lists will be reduced when that is done. In any case, we have not so far found it at all necessary to hold back smallholding authorities, who have initiative in this matter.
§ Mr. BrownThat is a different question, but if my hon. and learned Friend will look at the Smallholdings Advisory Council report, he will find in it considerable details of the figures.
§ Major Legge-BourkeDoes the hon. Gentleman not realise that the policy he has adopted as a result of the report of the Smallholdings Advisory Council involves existing holdings being amalgamated to make larger holdings, so that the rate of granting new applications will get smaller and smaller?
§ 49. Major Legge-Bourkeasked the Minister of Agriculture what factors influenced him in deciding to eliminate part-time smallholdings; and whether he is prepared to review this decision in the light 1360 of special consideration affecting specific areas.
§ Mr. G. BrownThe provision of part-time smallholdings is not, in my right hon. Friend's opinion or in the opinion of the Smallholdings Advisory Council, consistent with the objective of the Government's smallholdings policy, which is to help agricultural workers to become farmers on their own account by creating more properly equipped full-time holdings As regards the second part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon Friend the Member for Norfolk, North (Mr. Gooch) on 30th March.
§ Major Legge-BourkeThe answer to which the hon. Gentleman has referred does not really answer the question. Does the hon. Gentleman not realise that this question of part-time smallholdings is not the same in every area and that particularly in the Fens part-time smallholdings have played a great part in the past in encouraging men to stay on the land? If he ends part-time holdings he will encourage men to leave the land altogether.
§ Mr. BrownThis is not a suitable occasion to debate the views of the Council, which are set out in the report, but what my right hon. Friend said in the reply to which I have referred, is that time will have to be taken to bring the existing part-time holdings into line with the new arrangements. There is no intention of rushing holus-bolus into this arrangement.
§ Major Legge-BourkeI beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter on the Adjournment as soon as possible, so that we can have a Debate on the report.