Scottish Agriculture: Purchase of Holdings (Hansard, 10 July 1984)

§ Viscount Massereene and Ferrard
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Minister of State, Scottish Office (Lord Gray of Contin)
My Lords, 764 tenants have now bought their holdings and a further 109 sales are in progress. I am entirely satisfied that this policy is not detrimental to Scottish agriculture. The great majority of tenants who have so far purchased are continuing and, I have no reason to doubt, will continue to work their holdings as they have done in the past, but now as owner-occupiers.

§ Viscount Massereene and Ferrard
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his Answer. May I ask him whether or not it would have been wiser to allow a period of time—say, five years—to elapse after the commencement of this scheme before tenants could sell their holdings? Is my noble friend aware that what I am frightened of is that after they have purchased their land from the department some very good hill land will be sold by the tenants to afforestation syndicates, who seldom, in my experience, employ local labour and who will give a high price, owing to the great tax advantages which are available to them? Would my noble friend further agree that if afforestation syndicates buy a great deal of hill land from these former tenants it will vastly increase the acreage, already great of Sitka spruce which is planted in the Highlands? This is likely to cause an increase in acidity and, therefore, an increase in acid rain, which would be very detrimental to fish farms, fishing and the environment generally.

§ Lord Gray of Contin
My Lords, I am very much aware of the very deep interest which my noble friend takes in these matters. On this particular issue I can 755 assure him that the tenants on the land settlement estates are being offered a very substantial discount in order to encourage them to buy their holdings. Any such clawback as my noble friend suggests would be counter-productive. It would not have the effect of encouraging tenants to buy their holdings. It might even deter them from doing so.
My noble friend mentioned the possibility of good farming land being used for forestry. In the case of those holdings, I do not believe that this is likely. One of the difficulties about the holdings is that originally it was thought that they would be a stepping-stone for people starting off in agriculture who could later move to larger farms. This has happened on only rare occasions. Most of the holdings have been passed on on through the generations, which means that the agricultural land is reasonably good and is being used for agriculture. As to my noble friend's concern about acid rain, I agree that it is a cause for concern, but in this particular instance I do not believe that my noble friend needs to worry too much about it.

§ Lord John-Mackie
My Lords, does it make sense for the Government to state in the gracious Speech that they are going to introduce legislation to help the tenanted sector of agriculture, and to pay lip-service to that intention with a Bill, and then to sell off 250 tenancies and seem to be proud of it?

§ Lord Gray of Contin
My Lords, if the noble Lord, Lord John-Mackie, asked any of those who have recently purchased their holdings, they would say that they were highly delighted at the opportunity so to do. Those holdings have long since fufilled the purpose for which they were originally acquired, and they are an increasing financial liability. I will remind the noble Lord that the cost of administering those holdings now amounts to almost £1 million per year. The Government made perfectly clear what their policy was in respect of this matter and it has been welcomed by those who have the opportunity to purchase.

§ Lord John-Mackie
My Lords, that has not quite answered my question, if I may say so. I should say that people would be pleased that the Government are selling off farms at the discount that they are. That does not alter the fact that they were tenanted farms. There is a scarcity of tenanted farms, and to sell off such farms while at the same time paying lip service to the tenancy sector of agriculture seems ridiculous.

§ Lord Gray of Contin
My Lords, I would with respect suggest to the noble Lord that he is confusing the two issues. There is a perfectly reasonable case for doing exactly what the Government are doing. I repeat what I said earlier: the Government's policy is highly welcomed by those who have the opportunity to purchase—just as the Government's policy of allowing council tenants who purchase their houses has been warmly applauded by all those who have availed themselves of that opportunity.