HC Deb 03 July 1918 vol 107 cc1742-4W
Sir H. COWAN

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he can give the names of the members of the Committee whose function it was to advise the Board of Agriculture for Scotland with regard to forestry matters during 1916 and 1917; what was the total amount of the Grants from the Development Fund which the Committee advised the Board to apply for and supported during those years; what were the amounts actually applied for and the amounts which the Development Commissioners agreed to recommend and refused respectively; what is the total amount of the Grants from the Development Fund for forestry purposes which the Board has applied for and supported since the recent reorganisation of its Forestry Department; and what are the amounts agreed to recommend and refused, respectively, during the same period?

Mr. MUNRO

The names of the members of the Committee whose function it was to advise the Board of Agriculture for Scotland with regard to forestry matters in 1916 and 1917 are as follows:

  • Mr. John D. Sutherland (Chairman).
  • The Right Hon. Lord Lovat.
  • Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Bart.
  • Mr. J. M. Henderson, M.P.
  • Mr. J. I. Macpherson, M.P.
  • Mr. J. Milne Home.
  • Mr. R. H. N. Sellar.

No meeting of the Committee was held in 1917. During 1916 the Committee put forward general recommendations for forestry development, but no specific Grants were recommended.

The Board applied for Grants amounting to £2,500 in 1916, of which £2,000 was recommended by the Development Commissioners. In 1917, prior to October, the Board applied for Grants amounting to £4,000, which were all recommended by the Commissioners.

Since the reorganisation of their Forestry Department in October last the Board have applied for and supported Grants from the Development Fund for forestry purposes amounting to £16,430, in addition to annual Grants of £80 for seventy years and £1,500 for five years. The Development Commissioners have recommended, or agreed to recommend, all these applications with the exception of a proposed Grant of £2,500 capital expenditure, with a maintenance of £1,500 for five years, for a school of practical forestry in regard to which the Development Commissioners postponed consideration until the Government's proposals for forestry administration had matured.