§ Mr. Andrew WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what information he has received on the effects of the set-aside scheme on employment in(a) farming and (b) agricultural suppliers;
(2) what assessment he has made of the effects on rural unemployment in each region of successful set-aside scheme applications; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythI refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave the hon. Member for East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson) on 15 December, at column672
§ Mr. Andrew WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of hectares registered for set-aside which will be(a) kept under natural grasses, (b) put to woodland and (c) used for non-agricultural purposes.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythUnder the set-aside scheme, applicants may opt to use set-aside land as fallow (with a green cover crop), for woodland (either under the farm woodland scheme or the woodland grant scheme) or for non-agricultural use. The following details of proposals by 1988 applicants are provisional, pending checking of all applications:
Hectares Permanent fallow 13,618 Rotational fallow 1,726 Woodland 460 Non-agricultural use 379 Total 16,183
§ Mr. Andrew WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list(a) the number of farmers in each region who have registered under the set-aside scheme, (b) how many hectares are involved in each region and (c) the total expressed as a percentage of available arable land.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information is as follows. Hectarage details are provisional, pending checking of all registrations submitted. Regions are grouped in relation to the area organisation of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, since information is not available by local authority area.
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Regions Registrations Area of eligible land hectares Total holding area hectares Highland (except Skye), Orkney, Shetland 376 23,155 97,202 Highland (Skye only), Western Isles, Strathclyde (Argyll only) 13 237 9,031 Central Strathclyde (except Argyll), Dumfries and Galloway 743 29,939 125,886 Borders, Lothian, Fife (West) 850 95,182 198,381 Tayside, Fife (North East) 1,412 118,493 291,945 Grampian 2,517 133,408 339,930 Total 5,911 400,414 1,062,375 The provisional total area of eligible land registered represents about 69 per cent. of all land used for the production of relevant arable crops in Scotland in 1988 (about 583,000 hectares). It should be noted that registration does not imply a commitment or intention to apply for set-aside at some future date. It simply reflects the response to widespread encouragement by the Department, the National Farmers' Union of Scotland and others to all farmers to lodge details of their 1988 cropping pattern this year while they could still be verified by the Department. This saves a farmer who might opt to join the scheme at a later date having to provide independently corroborated evidence of the 1988 pattern.
Regions Applications Area proposed for set-aside Numbers Percentage of total Hectares Percentage of total Highland (except Skye), Orkney, Shetland 38 8.4 1,524 9.4 Highland (Skye only), Western Isles, Strathclyde (Argyll only) — — — — Central Strathclyde (except Argyll), Dumfries and Galloway 41 9.1 1,642 10.1 Borders, Lothian, Fife (West) 37 8.2 1,937 12.0 Tayside, Fife (North East) 79 17.6 2,267 14.0 Grampian 255 56.7 8,813 54.5 Total 450 100.0 16,183 100.0