§ Mr. SITCHasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture how many applications have, since the date of the Armistice, been received by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries from officers and men and ex-officers and men for financial assistance to enable them to pursue courses of agricultural training; what number of such applicants have been placed for training; and what is the average amount of financial assistance awarded in each case?
Sir A. BOSCAWENFive hundred and thirty-three applications for scholar- 2273W ships and 804 for residential farm training had been received up to the 5th instant. The number of scholarships available is at present limited to fifty, which number it is hoped to increase to 100. The special Departmental Committee of Selection have interviewed 365 of the 533 applicants. Nine have been awarded scholarships, 276 refused, and the remaining eighty are under consideration. The precise value of these scholarships cannot yet be ascertained. The number of Grants available for residential farm training is at present 1,000, and they are fixed at £125 per annum for two years. Of the 804 applications the county education authorities report that sixty-seven have started training and 153 others have been approved. Grants have been refused in twenty-two cases and twenty-two others have withdrawn. Less than 50 per cent. of the applicants both for scholarships and for residential farm training were already demobilised. In addition to the amount of scholarship and the residential training Grant, an additional allowance at a rate up to £24 a year is made in respect of each child under sixteen years subject to certain conditions.