§ Sir A. SINCLAIRasked the First Commissioner of Works, as representing the Secretary for Scotland, whether he is aware that a number of landed estates in the Highland counties of Scotland are now being sold by auction; that existing smallholders are liable to be evicted by the Land Court on application for resumption by a purchaser who possesses no other holding than the one he has bought; that in consequence many smallholders are being compelled to buy their holdings at competitive prices at auction sales; and whether he is prepared immediately to introduce legislation which, while maintaining the principle of fixity of tenure, will enable those smallholders who wish to purchase their holdings to do so at a fair price fixed by the Land Court, and to obtain credit facilities from the Board of Agriculture on the same terms as the loans now granted for erecting houses on small holdings?
§ Sir J. BAIRDThe answer to the first and second parts of the question is in the affirmative. My Noble Friend has no1548W exact information as to the numbers of smallholders who are buying their holdings to avoid the risk of removal, but the whole question is receiving his attention, and the suggestion of the hon. and gallant Member will not be lost sight of.