§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he intends implementing to counter the substantial cutback in farm capital grant applications in Wales.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsIt is not possible to compare numbers of applications for capital grants now that prior approval is no longer required. I note, however, that claims received under the national and the EC schemes taken together have risen from about 18,000 in 1979 to 21,000 in 1980, and grant paid from about 15 million to £17½ million. The right way to improve take-up is to create a better economic climate for industry generally, including agriculture, and to get interest rates down; that is what the Government's economic policies aim to do.