HC Deb 10 April 1951 vol 486 cc806-7
19. Mr. Manuel

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to state, to the nearest convenient date, the total amount of subsidy paid in the Highland counties in respect of sheep rearing and cattle rearing, respectively; and the amount of subsidy which has been paid in the above areas in connection with hill farms and which is outwith the ambit of the sheep and cattle subsidies.

Mr. McNeil

As the answer is necessarily long, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Following is the reply:

The total amounts of hill sheep and hill cattle subsidies paid to hill and upland farmers in the seven crofting counties of Scotland from the inception of the subsidy schemes until 31st March, 1951, were £3,964,000 and £2,650,000 respectively. I append a table giving this information in detail.

In addition, £559,000, £1,050,000 and £580,500 were paid to farmers in these counties up to 31st March, 1951, in marginal production assistance, ploughing-up and calf rearing subsidies, respectively. Most, though not all, of these payments would go to hill and upland farmers in the area; I regret, however, that records do not show separate figures for these categories.

With regard to certain other forms of assistance, e.g., the lime subsidy, the information for which the hon. Member

AMOUNTS OF VARIOUS SUBSIDIES PAID SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE SCHEMES TO HOLDERS IN THE CROFTING COUNTIES (ARGYLL, CAITHNESS, INVERNESS, ORKNEY, ROSS AND CROMARTY, SUTHERLAND AND SHETLAND)
Scheme Year Grassland Ploughing Scheme Hill Sheep Subsidy Hill Cattle Subsidy Marginal Agricultural Production Calf Rearing Subsidy
£ £ £ £ £
1940 … … 55,542 — — — —
1941 … … 42,507 113,000 Say 2/3rds of 28,600* — —
1942 … … 42,199 339,918 — —
1943 … … 33,908 374,113 142,164 37,244 —
1944 … … 30,458 295,808 208,296 64,329 —
1945 … … 21,563 379,942 301,031 68,782 —
1946 … … 83,075 384,823 355,130 76,272 —
1947 … … 97,019 458,278 387,744 86,404 —
1948 … … 239,323 837,144 400,393 77,519 82,956
1949 … … 190,352 519,842 419,447 71,551 296,096
1950 … … 214,398 261,339 423,374 76,877 201,448
TOTALS … 1,050,344 3,964,207 2,637,579 558,978 580,500
Grand Total of payments shown above, £8,791,608.
* Separate figures for various counties not available.