§ Mr. Maxtonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all grants and tax exemptions currently 743W available for the planting of forestry in Scotland; and if he will give the number of applicants and the total take-up of each in each of the last five years.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonGrant aid for forestry is provided under the Forestry Commission's forestry grant scheme and broadleaved woodland grant scheme, and I am arranging for copies of leaflets giving details of these schemes to be placed in the Library of the House. As regards taxation, a copy of Forestry Commission leaflet No. 12 "Taxation of Woodlands" is already available in the Library. This leaflet is currently being revised and a copy of the new version will be placed in the Library as soon as it is published.
The information requested on grant scheme applications in Scotland is as follows
Year ended 31 March Number of applications received Area approved for entry to the scheme (hectares) Area of planting (including restocking) for which grants were paid (hectares) (1) (2) (3) (4) Forestry Grant Scheme 1983 513 34,419 5,959 1984 538 34,096 12,309 1985 590 33,267 13,648 1986 704 37,562 17,714 1987 992 41,833 17,411 Broadleaved Woodland Grant Scheme (introduced on 1 October 1985) 1986 313 313 — 1987 599 2,408 336 Note: The areas shown in column 3
- (a) include existing woodlands; and
- (b) over approvals for planting over a five-year period.
§ Mr. Maxtonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the total acreage of forestry in Scotland in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information is set out in the table:
Year (as at 31 March) Hectares (thousands) 1978 867 1979 883 1980 904 1981 921 1982 940 1983 978 1984 1,000 1985 1,017 1986 1,038 1987 1,067