§ Mr. Newensasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much has been paid out by his Department for each of the last five years for which figures are available for the clearance of hedges where a drainage scheme is involved or where they are an obstacle to cultivation.
§ Mr. WigginGrant is payable under the farm capital grant scheme and the farm and horticulture development scheme for the clearance of parts of hedges where necessary to facilitate field drainage. The amount of grant paid for 5W England in each of the past five years was:
1975 £40,269 1976 £44,237 1977 £41,403 1978 £55,468 1979 £57,715 Grant is not available for clearing woodlands or hedgerows. However, where land is being improved, grants are available for the removal of any obstacle to cultivation such as boulders, scrub, tree stumps and thickets which do not form part of existing field boundaries. Separate statistics are not kept of grant paid on these ancillary items.