§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many crofting tenants there now are.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythAccording to the records held by the Crofters Commission, there were 13,444 crofting tenants at 31 December 1990. This figure includes crofters who are tenants only of a share or shares in common grazings.
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many crofts in each crofting area have transferred from tenure to owner-occupancy under the terms of the Crofting Reform Act 1976.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information requested is as follows:
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Former county Number of whole croft purchases1 inti-mated to the Crofters Commission since enactment of the Crofting Reform Act 1976 Argyll 313 Caithness 317 Inverness (including Skye, Harris and Uists) 591
Former county Number of whole croft purchases1 intimated to the Crofters Commission since enactment of the Crofting Reform Act 1976 Orkney 191 Ross and Cromarty (including Lewis) 282 Sutherland 208 Shetland 322 Total 2,224 1 In addition to the figures for whole croft purchases, 447 part-crofts have been purchased and 1,597 croft house sites.
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many crofting tenants, by estate, of the Secretary of State have exercised their right to buy(a) the house site and (b) the croft, under the Crofting Reform Act 1976.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information requested is set out in the tables.
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Crofting County/Estate A B C Argyll Ardachy 2 2 — Balmeanach 2 — — Bonnavoulin — — 1 Calgarry 3 — — Killeonan 10 1 3 Kinlochlaich 2 1 — Knockvologan 2 — 1 Moy 2 — 1 Pottie 2 — — Sunart 23 1 4 Tomaig 3 — — White Hart Parks 7 — — Total 58 5 10 Caithness Dunn and Scarmclate 20 — 1 Forss 1 — — Hallum 1 — — Hoy and Braal 1 — — Lochend 6 — 1 Lybster 2 — — Skaill 5 1 — Stempster 3 1 — Upper Dounreay 7 1 — West Murkle 4 — — West Watten 11 — — Total 61 3 2 Inverness-shire Balranald 1 1 4 Barra — 2 9 Benbecula 9 8 14 Beolary — 1 3 Borve — 1 2 Bracadale 11 21 66 Claigan — 2 2 Eoligarry 1 2 8 Inshes 10 — 1 Kilbride — 2 5 Kilmuir 22 56 83 Kingsburgh 4 5 11 Luskentyre — 1 4 Mains of Ardersier 6 — — Milton of Culloden 4 — 2 Ness-side 4 — — Newton 3 1 12 Raasay 4 17 10 Scallasaig 2 1 3 Scaristavore — 1 3
Crofting County/Estate A B C Scorrybreck 1 8 6 Tomich 12 — 2 Vatersay — — 1 Woodside of Culloden 3 — 2 Total 97 130 253 Orkney Stove 5 — — Ross and Cromarty Arabella 3 1 3 Balnabean 2 — 3 Broomhill 4 — 1 Corntown 7 — 2 Culcairn 2 — 1 Dounie 1 — 2 Geanies 2 — 4 Kinbeachie 4 — — Kinkell 2 — 2 Raddery 3 — 1 Seafield 4 — 1 Total 34 1 20 Shetland Ordale 4 — 4 Sutherland Armadale 13 — 9 Borgie 2 — 1 Syre 6 — 4 Total 21 1 14 Grand Total 280 140 303 A = Whole croft B= Part croft C = Croft house
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number of persons employed by the Crofters Commission(a) in the Inverness headquarters and (b) elsewhere in the crofting counties, in each of the last five years and in 1979.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information requested is as follows:
(a) The numbers of staff employed in the Inverness headquarters of the Crofters Commission on 1 April in each of the years were:
Permanent staff1 Casual staff 1979 52½ — 1986 51 — 1987 51 — 1988 51 1 1989 52 3 1990 48 5 1 These figures do not include Commissioners. (b) No staff are employed by the Commission outwith Inverness. However the Commission is able to call upon the services of professional staff from the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department area offices throughout the crofting counties in respect of crofting schemes and regulatory matters.
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the total cost to the Exchequer of the Crofters Commission in each of the past five years.
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§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information requested is as follows:
Total expenditure of the Crofters Commission Financial year £'000s 1986–87 1154 1987–88 752 1988–89 849 1989–90 936 1990–91 21,080 1 Comparable figures are not available for this year as the costs of the permanent staff were until then incorporated in the overall Scottish Office staffing expenditure. 2 Forecast outtum.
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the crofting estates owned by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland with, in each case, the number of tenants, the acreage of inbye land and the acreage of common grazing.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythInformation relating to crofting estates belonging to the Secretary of State is set out in the table. The Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department does not hold separately information relating to the acreage of inbye land or common grazing. The total hectarage figures given, however, includes both inbye land and common grazing.
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The Secretary of State's crofting estates as at 31 December 1990 Area and estate Crofting lets1 Other agricultural Total hectarage ARGYLL: Kinlochlaich 5 — 1,500 Sunart 38 1 2,548 Morven-Bonnavoulin 1 — 29 Isle of Mull Glenforsa2 — 2 4,789 Isle of Islay Whitehart Parks 8 — 264 Mull of Kintyre Killeonan 1 — 9 Moy 3 — 64 Totals 56 3 9,203 INVERNESS (Mainland) Mains of Arderseir 1 — 4 Inshes 2 — 30 Milton of Culloden 1 — 6 Woodside of Culloder l 1 6 Beolary 6 — 972 Tomich 8 1 120 Scallasaig 10 — 1,985 Total 29 2 3,123 ROSS AND CROMARTY: Arabella 2 — 73 Balnabeen 5 — 73 Corntown 5 — 98 Culcairn 1 — 53 Dounie 2 — 56 Geanies 2 — 63 Kinkell 2 — 58 Raddery 2 1 77 Seafield 3 — 30 Totals 24 1 581
Area and estate Crofting lets1 Other agricultural lets Total hectarage CAITHNESS: Dunn and Scarmclate 11 — 584 Forss 7 1 605 Hoy and Braal 2 — 100 Lochend 2 — 223 Lybster 1 — 132 Stempster 2 — 67 West Murkle 1 — 23 West Watten 2 — 88 Totals 28 1 1,822 SUTHERLAND: Armadale 95 2 4,735 Borgie 9 — 4,958 Keoldale 43 — 11,032 Syre 20 — 4,736 Totals 167 2 25,461 Inverness (SKYE AND RAASAY) SKYE: Bracadale 166 8 19,697 Claigan 4 — 1,480 Kilbride 10 — 3,451 Kilmuir 373 — 19,120 Kingsburgh 27 — 5,334 Scorrybreck 16 — 4,003 RAASAY: Raasay 33 2 6,731 Totals 629 10 59,816 INVERNESS (WESTERN ISLES) HARRIS: Scaristavor 10 1 1,240 Luskentyre 10 — 2,397 Borve 32 — 3,014 NORTH UIST: Balelone/Balmartin 5 6,555 Balranald 49 Newton 49 7 BENBECULA: Benbecula 76 2 1,045 BARRA: Barra 56 1 1,143 Eoligarry 66 1 1,324 VATERSAY: Vatersay 43 1 1,362 Totals 396 13 18,080 NORTHERN ISLES ORKNEY: Stove 4 — 247 SHETLAND: Cliff 24 — 312 Fetlar 6 — 71 Ordale 11 1 807 Westafirth 13 — 971 Totals 58 1 2,408 Grand Total 1,387 33 120,494 1 The number of "crofting lets" may differ slightly from the number of "tenants" because of some multiple tenancies. 2 Leasehold subject.