§ 19. Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications for grant and for loan for crofter and cottar housing under the Agriculture (Scotland) Act, 1948, have been received; how many have been approved; how many rejected; and how long each application takes on average to go through.
§ Mr. T. FraserOne thousand six hundred and thirty-two applications have been received, 423 approved and 391 rejected or withdrawn. As regards the last part of the Question, I am afraid it would not be easy to assess the average time taken but the delays resulting from the initial mass of applications are now being overcome.
§ Mr. MacMillanIs my hon. Friend aware that considerable dissatisfaction has been expressed at the very long time, 962 in certain cases at least, that these applications have taken to go through before they are finally approved? In view of the housing situation in the crofting areas, no less than elsewhere in the country, will my hon. Friend give a little consideration to speeding up the decision?
§ Mr. FraserThese applications are being disposed of at present at double the rate at which they are coming in, but my hon. Friend will realise that we had a spate of applications in the first place and there is a limit to our technical staff's resources.
§ Mr. John MacLeodHow many of these applications were from tenants of the Department of Agriculture?
§ Mr. FraserI could not say without notice.
§ 21. Mr. M. MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether it is intended to import Swedish or Norwegian timber houses for crofters which would qualify for grant and loan under the Agriculture (Scotland) Act, 1948.
§ Mr. T. FraserNo, Sir. The cost of imported timber houses would be so much higher than the cost of standard type crofter houses that crofters generally would not be able to purchase them with the assistance available.
§ Mr. MacMillanIn view of the fact that we were importing 1,000 Swedish houses and that policy has been highly successful in meeting the housing shortage, which could not have been met by private contractors within the prescribed financial limits, is not this the only way out of the difficulty of finding houses for crofters, which they cannot build at economic rates?
§ Mr. FraserWe would be willing, of course, to arrange for the importation of these houses if the crofters could take them. We had an investigation into this suggestion some time ago and our information is that the excess cost of these houses over the standard type of crofter house ranged from £230 to £436 and we understand that, with the limitation of £500 grant, imposed by Statute, the cost of the houses would be beyond the means of the crofters. But if there is a desire among the crofters to take them notwithstanding the cost, we would be glad to have another look at the matter.
§ Mr. FraserI could not say without notice.
§ Mr. GrimondIs it not the case that a considerable amount of the cost is due to transport charges? Has the hon. Gentleman considered using smaller ships to bring these houses directly across to small ports in the North of Scotland, thereby making a considerable saving in freight charges?