§ 9. Commander Donaldsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many appeals in connection with the Winter Keep Scheme have been heard, and how many are still outstanding.
§ Mr. NobleThe total number of appeals received up to 31st May is 2,286. The number which has been settled is 1,174 leaving 1,112 still outstanding.
§ Commander DonaldsonOf the 1,174 which have been heard, how many have been successful and how many unsuccessful?
§ Mr. NobleThe number of appeals granted is 517, and 104 have been refused. The remaining 553 appeals were withdrawn by the farmers after consultation with officers of my Department.
§ Miss HerbisonSurely the right hon. Gentleman is aware that many farmers in the upland areas of Lanarkshire are suffering greatly because they cannot benefit from the Winter Keep Scheme, although they benefited considerably from the previous system? What representations has he had from those farmers, who have to work very hard indeed for a very small return?
§ Miss Herbison indicated assent.
§ Mr. NobleIf that is the case, then, in this category, 262 appeals have been received. Of these, 66 were subsequently withdrawn after discussion with my 1263 Department, and in 60 cases my Department now considers, after detailed assessment, that the occupier is not dairying to a material extent and the appeal has been granted. Certainly some people have had their winter keep reduced or have fallen out of the Scheme, but on the other hand many hundreds have come into it.
§ 10. Commander Donaldsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland by what date all the appeals in connection with the Winter Keep Scheme are likely to be heard.
§ Mr. NobleI hope that the appeals at present outstanding will all be dealt with by the autumn but there may be some further appeals still to come in.
§ Commander DonaldsonIs the Secretary of State satisfied with the rate of progress, especially since many appeals are still to be heard and perhaps some will not be heard until late in the autumn, and will he say whether those whose appeals are heard late in the year suffer financially as a result?
§ Mr. NobleThe answer to the last part of the supplementary question is "No". I think that progress has been quite satisfactory and I would pay tribute to the appeal panel, whose members have given a great deal of work and time without payment in order to achieve that progress. One must bear in mind that during the winter period it is much more difficult to assess this kind of problem. On the whole, progress has been good.