§ Mr. DAYasked the Minister of Agriculture the number of agricultural holdings above one acre and not exceeding 50 acres recorded in the Agricultural returns at the latest date; and the number of holdings occupied by ex-service men and the approximate number of applicants on the various waiting lists?
Mr. GUINNESSThe number of separate holdings returned in England and Wales as exceeding one acre and not exceeding 50 acres in extent on 4th June, 1928, was 260,125. Returns furnished by councils of counties and county boroughs in England and Wales indicated that, at 31st March, 1926, 16,334 ex-service men settled since the War were occupying small holdings provided by those councils under the Small Holdings Acts, 1908–1919. The number of applicants on the councils' waiting lists on 31st December, 1927, was 5,821, of whom 2,522 had been approved, while the remaining 3,299 were waiting fuller inquiry into their qualifications. It is not known how many ex-service men are settled on the land apart from those occupying statutory small holdings.