§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report particulars of the land which has been reclaimed for agricultural use each year since 1979 with the aid of public subsidies and grants.
§ Mr. JoplingI regret that the information requested is not available.
Grant for the reclamation of land is available under this Ministry's capital grant schemes but most of the expenditure under this heading is for the improvement of land which is already in agricultural use. Grants for the reclamation or restoration of non-agricultural land to agricultural use are available under other legislation, for which I am not responsible.