Drainage Works (Hansard, 3 February 1971)

HC Deb 03 February 1971 vol 810 cc1662-3 1662

§ 24. Sir J. Gilmour
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what acreages of agricultural land in each count of Scotland has been improved by drainage works assisted by Government grants in each of the last five years; what sums of money have been expended; what estimate he has made of the amount of drainage needed now to be undertaken; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Buchanan-Smith
With permission, I will circulate the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT. There has been no recent survey of drainage requirements in Scotland but I am aware that there is scope for drainage improvement in various parts of the country. Substantial Government grants are available but it is for individual farmers to decide whether to undertake this work.

§ Sir J. Gilmour
Would not my hon. Friend agree that, due to the policy of the last Administration and the intolerable squeeze on farmers' incomes, farmers have been unable to finance the necessary part of their contribution? I know that my hon. Friend and his right hon. Friends will put this right at the Price Review, but will my hon. Friend extend the present favourable rate of drainage in order to tackle this urgent problem in agricultural production?

§ Mr. Buchanan-Smith
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The stringent conditions under which agriculture has had to operate in recent years have made it extremely difficult for the farmers. However, I hope that in future they will be able to take advantage of the generous grants available for this important work.

§ Mr. Maclennan
Was not that a misleading reply? Have not many schemes 1663 of land drainage put forward by farmers been vetoed or prevented by intransigent landlords who prefer to use the land for other than agricultural purposes?

§ Mr. Buchanan-Smith
That is complete nonsense.

§ Mr. Maclennan
No, it is not.

§ Mr. Buchanan-Smith
If the hon. Gentleman has specific instances, I am prepared to consider them.

§ Mr. MacLennan
That answer was misleading in that the hon. Gentleman

ESTIMATED ACREAGE OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IMPROVED BY DRAINAGE WORKS ASSISTED BY GOVERNMENT GRANT^*
			Thousand Acres
County	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970
Aberdeen	…	…	2.1	2.5	2.0	2.3	3.7
Angus	…	…	0.8	1.1	2.0	0.8	2.5
Argyll	…	…	7.0	5.8	9.7	11.9	5.6
Banff	…	…	0.8	0.6	0.8	1.1	1.3
Berwick	…	…	0.5	0.7	0.4	1.2	1.6
Bute	…	…	0.1	0.5	1.5	2.3	0.4
Caithness	…	…	0.4	0.5	0.9	2.5	0.9
Clackmannan	…	…	†	0.1	1.1	0.5	0.1
Dumfries	…	…	3.2	6.6	5.8	6.3	4.0
Dunbarton	…	…	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.8	0.3
East Lothian	…	…	†	0.2	0.1	0.6	0.2
Fife	…	…	0.3	0.7	0.4	0.9	0.8
Inverness	…	…	0.6	0.2	0.6	1.5	0.8
Kincardine	…	…	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4
Kinross	…	…	†	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.3
Kirkcudbright	…	…	2.0	1.6	4.4	4.7	1.9
Lanark	…	…	1.6	2.8	1.4	5.8	3.4
Midlothian	…	…	†	0.6	1.0	0.9	0.3
Moray	…	…	0.2	0.8	1.0	1.9	0.7
Nairn	…	…	0.1	0.1	0.7	0.1	0.3
Orkney	…	…	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.7	0.4
Peebles	…	…	0.6	2.8	0.8	0.8	0.1
Perth	…	…	6.7	7.9	12.0	25.3	13.8
Renfrew	…	…	0.1	0.7	0.6	0.7	1.6
Ross and Cromarty	…	…	1.5	3.6	1.4	11.8	8.7
Roxburgh	…	…	2.3	1.9	2.8	4.7	4.1
Selkirk	…	…	0.8	1.4	0.9	1.8	1.9
Stirling	…	…	0.8	0.6	4.0	2.8	1.7
Sutherland	…	…	3.6	0.9	2.5	5.3	7.0
West Lothian	…	…	†	0.1	†	0.1	0.2
Wigtown	…	…	0.5	3.6	0.6	1.2	3.3
Zetland	…	…	†	†	Nil	†	†
Scotland	…	…	41.1	53.8	66.7	106.8	76.5
Grant paid (£'000)	…	…	308	383	419	601	677
^* Grants authorised by the Agriculture Act 1937 (supplemented, for hill land, by the Hill Land Improvement (Scotland) Scheme 1967) and the Land Drainage (Scotland) Act 1958. Works comprise arterial schemes, ditch works, field and hill drainage.
† Less than 50 acres.