§ 14. Mr. Willeyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many grants have been approved in respect of improvements under the Agriculture Act, 1957; at what estimated cost; and how many applications have been received.
§ Mr. HareAt the end of December, 1958, 51,921 applications had been received in England and Wales. Of these, 28,630 had been formally approved at a total estimated cost of just under £20 million, attracting grant of one-third. Another 5,945 applications had been approved in principle.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Agricultural Land Service and the rest of my Ministry's staff concerned with the Scheme for the continuous hard work that has made this progress possible.
§ Mr. WilleyMay I join the right hon. Gentleman in expressing appreciation at the progress which has been made? Can the Minister say whether the 6,500 claims which were generally accepted but subject 680 to further details that the Joint Parliamentary Secretary announced in June have been cleared and whether the proportion of small farmers taking advantage of the scheme is now increasing as the Joint Parliamentary Secretary then hoped it would?
§ Mr. HareIn answer to the last part of the supplementary question, I should say that on the whole that is happening. As to the other part, there are still about 6,000, but this is a pipeline and the people concerned are not necessarily the same as those in June.