HC Deb 09 May 1966 vol 728 cc174-6

Resolution reported, That, for the purposes of any Act of the present Session to establish a Meat and Livestock Commission and make other provision for matters connected with agriculture, it is expedient to authorise the payment of any sums into the Exchequer and the making of the payments out of money provided by Parliament and out of the Consolidated Fund set out below. A. Payments which may be made out of money provided by Parliament:

  1. 1.—
    1. (1) Payments by way of grant to meet up to half of expenditure incurred in connection with the carrying out of amalgamations of agricultural land and the reshaping of agricultural units, but excluding expenditure on the acquisition of land;
    2. (2) Payments by way of loan, and payments to fulfil guarantees of any loan, made to meet expenditure incurred in connection with the carrying out of amalgamations of agricultural land and the reshaping of agricultural units:
    3. (3) Payments to meet expenditure incurred by the Ministers or the Ministry of Agriculture for Northern Ireland in and in connection with the acquisition, holding, management and disposal of land for the purpose of effecting amalgamations of agricultural land and the reshaping of agricultural units, including transactions involving loss;
  2. 2. Payments by way of grant (including annuities) to, for, or in respect of, individuals who relinquish occupation of agricultural land:
  3. 3. Payments under—
    1. (a) any provision of the said Act of the present Session authorising the making towards the cost of improvements for the benefit of agricultural land of grants up to one quarter of the cost in respect of which they are made;
    2. (b) any provision of that Act authorising the making of grants towards the cost of improvements for the benefit of hill land used for agriculture;
    3. (c) any provision of that Act authorising the making, at the rate of ten per cent. of the expenditure in respect of which they are made, of grants towards expenditure incurred on or after 17th January 1966 on or in connection with equipment, plant or machinery used or to be used wholly or in part for the purposes of an 175 agricultural business, on improvements to land comprised in such a business, or in the provision of vehicles; and
    4. (d) any provision of that Act authorising the making, by way of supplement to other grants, of grants not exceeding in any case five per cent. of the cost or expenditure by reference to which the amount of the other grant was calculated:
Provided that the grants made under any such provision as is mentioned in subparagraph (a) above, together with those made under sections 12 and 16 of the Agriculture Act 1957 (farm improvements and amalgamations) and any grants made in respect of improvements to which that provision applies out of money provided by Parliament by any Act passed after 27th April, 1966, and before the passing of the said Act of the present Session, shall not in the aggregate exceed £170 million; 4. Payments in respect of cows comprised in herds which appear to the Ministers to be maintained primarily for the purpose of breeding calves for beef; 5. Payments by way of grant in connection with the carrying out of proposals relating to any form of co-operation or mutual assistance in agriculture, including proposals made and approved before the passing of the Act; 6. Payments by way of grant to persons who fulfil guarantees of loans for any business concerned with agriculture, but so that the grants paid in any period of twelve months beginning with 1st April, together with the grants paid in that period under section 9 of the Agriculture and Horticulture Act 1964 (guarantees of bank loans to horticulture businesses), shall not exceed, for the period ending 31st March, 1967, £700,000, and for any subsequent period £900,000, and those limits shall replace the limits in subsection (2) of the said section 9; 7. Payments for the keeping of records of any farm business, including grant payable by reference to arrangements made by the Ministers before the passing of the Act; 8. Payments falling to be made out of money provided by Parliament in consequence of—
  1. (a) amending the Agriculture (Calf Subsidies) Act 1952,
  2. (b) amending section 12 of the Hill Farming Act 1946 (which authorises the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to carry out improvements for the benefit of hill farming land subject to rights of common),
  3. (c) making section 13 of the Hill Farming Act 1946 (subsidies for hill sheep and cattle) permanent,
  4. (d) extending the maximum period which may be specified in a scheme under section 10(1) of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous 176 Provisions) Act 1963 (winter keep grants),
  5. (e) extending section 4 of the Diseases of Animals Act 1950 (expenditure for eradication of disease) to poultry;
 9. Payments to meet expenditure incurred by the Minister in providing veterinary services to persons who carry on livestock businesses and participate in arrangements approved by the Ministers; 10.—
  1. (1) Remuneration, allowances and other payments to, for, or in respect of, members of the said Meat and Livestock Commission;
  2. (2) Payments to meet expenditure incurred by the Commission in performing functions in connection with fatstock guaranteed prices, calf subsidies and the administration of the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Acts and functions carried out at the request of the Ministers;
  3. (3) Payments to meet the Commission's initial expenditure incurred in performing any other functions;
 11. Payments to meet expenditure incurred in the performance of their functions by bodies established under the Act and concerned with rural development in hill and upland areas, or incurred by the Highlands and Islands Development Board in performing functions corresponding to those conferred on those bodies; 12.—
  1. (1) Remuneration, allowances and other payments to, for, or in respect of, members of a Central Council or other body established by the Act and concerned with co-operation and mutual assistance in agriculture;
  2. (2) Payments to meet expenditure incurred by that body in the performance of their functions;
 13. Payments to meet administrative expenses incurred by any Minister; B. Payments which may be made out of the Consolidated Fund— Payments falling to be so made in consequence of—
  1. (a) increasing from £5 million to £12 million the amount of the advances which may be made to the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Ltd. under section 2 of the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Act 1956 for the purpose of increasing its guarantee fund, and
  2. (b) increasing from £425,000 to £2 million the amount of the advances which may be made to the Scottish Agricultural Securities Corporation under sections 2 and 8(b) of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1944 for the like purpose;
 In the provisions about "the Ministers" means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State, or either of them, and "agriculture" includes horticulture.

Resolution agreed to.