HC Deb 27 July 1961 vol 645 cc579-80
10. Mr. Godman Irvine

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is satisfied with the operation of Pant IV of the Agriculture Act, 1947, in giving smallholders, in present conditions, an opportunity of becoming farmers on their own account; and if he will make a statement of his policy on this matter.

Mr. Soames

Under the Act, some 10,000 full-time holdings are provided by smallholdings authorities, most of the occupiers being former farm workers. These give a useful avenue of advancement for men of initiative. I have no proposals for amending the Act at this juncture.

Mr. Irvine

Will not my right hon. Friend agree that the conditions prevailing today are very different from those when the scheme was set up? In those circumstances, would not he further agree that the time has come when it would do no harm for him to have a look at the basis on which these schemes are administered?

Mr. Soames

The fact that there are 10,000 smallholdings across the country and that a hundred smallholders moved to farms from their holdings in the last year or so proves that, as they stand, smallholdings provide a valuable addition to our agricultural life.

Mr. Wingfield Digby

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is reluctance to move on to larger farms, even when they are offered, which is having the effect of preventing other people from below from moving into the smallholdings? Is he aware that this is becoming quite a problem?

Mr. Soames

That is not the experience of which I am told by the smallholdings authorities. It is more the fact that the popularity of farming today is such that so few farms are coming on to the market for letting that it is hard for those on smallholdings to get farms.