§ Sir R. WINFREYasked the Minister of Agriculture whether the Ministry can expedite the publication of their Report on the administration of the Land Settlement 2608W Act, 1919, down to the end of 1923; and, if so, when it may be expected and also the Report of the administration of the Small Holdings Colonies Acts?
§ Mr. BUXTONThe publication of the Ministry's Report on Land Settlement will be expedited as much as possible, but as it will be based to a large extent on statistics, some of which have still to be collected from the local authorities concerned, I am afraid that the actual date of publication of the Report cannot be stated at present. The Report on proceedings under the Small Holding Colonies Acts is now in preparation and will, it is hoped, be ready for publication within two or three months.
§ Sir R. WINFREYasked the Minister of Agriculture what steps he proposes to take to authorise and assist the resumption of operations under the Small Holdings Act, 1908; and whether he can state the numbers in each county of approved applicants at the time of its suspension?
§ Mr. BUXTONThe inference which might be drawn from the first part of the hon. Member's question, that no small holdings are at present being provided, would be incorrect. Small holdings are still being provided under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1908, and the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act, 1919, but since 31st July, 1920, the Ministry has, in the interests of economy, laid down certain rules limiting the maximum capital cost and annual loss in the case of holdings provided on land acquired since that date. As a result of these restrictions, the acquisition of additional land for the provision of holdings has practically ceased, and at the present rate of progress a considerable time will elapse before it is possible to provide for all the approved applicants. I am, however, carefully considering whether it is possible to relax these conditions. A statement of the number of approved applicants at the date when the above restrictions were imposed would prove misleading, as since that date nearly 14,000 men have been settled, the majority on land acquired before July, 1920, while others have withdrawn their applications. The following statement shows the latest statistics available as regards the approved applicants out standing demand in each county of England and Wales:— 2609W
2610W 2611W
STATEMENT showing the number of applicants for small holdings in each County in England and Wales (and in the County Boroughs) who have been approved after interview and who are not yet provided with holdings. POSITION AS AT 16TH JANUARY, 1924. County. Number of Applicants approved after interview and yet not provided with Holdings. Ex-Service men who applied before 1st December, 1920. Ex-Service men who applied after 1st December, 1920. Civilians. Total. England. Bedfordshire … 225 — 696 921 Berkshire … 38 11 26 75 Bucks … 121 1 18 140 Cambridge … 38 7 — 45 Cheshire … — — 71 71 Cornwall … 132 24 50 206 Cumberland … 30 20 13 63 Derbyshire … 41 2 44 87 Devon … 58 10 99 167 Dorset … 116 42 55 213 Durham … 143 — 89 232 Essex … 4 — 30 34 Gloucester … 293 16 180 489 Hants … 15 23 20 58 Hereford … 24 9 7 40 Hertford … 59 16 — 75 Hunts … 9 — — 9 Isle of Ely … 262 22 24 308 Isle of Wight … 5 9 — 14 Kent … 40 20 10 70 Lancashire … 103 47 21 171 Leicester … 99 — 36 135 Lincs (Holland) … 52 93 106 251 Lincs (Kesteven) … 12 — 75 87 Lincs (Lindsey) … 18 — 54 72 London … — — — — Middlesex … 83 5 18 106 Norfolk … 540 305 636 1,481 Northants … 57 — 67 124 Northumberland … 4 6 10 20 Notts … 75 45 71 191 Oxford … 66 3 64 133 Rutland … 12 3 9 24 Salop … 44 — — 44 Soke of Peterborough … — — 89 89 Somerset … 275 — 425 700 Staffs … 89 — — 89 Suffolk, East … 28 31 21 80 Suffolk, West … — 17 43 60 Surrey … 39 27 69 135 Sussex, East … 19 18 13 50 Sussex, West … 1 5 1 7 Warwick … 255 — 108 363 Westmorland … 3 5 6 14 Wilts … 48 52 44 144 Worcester … 5 — — 5 Yorks, E.R. … 22 15 9 46 Yorks, N.R. … 31 — — 31 Yorks, W.R. … 317 12 117 446 County Boroughs … 394 174 105 673 Total England … 4,344 1,095 3,649 9,088
County. Number of Applicants approved after interview and yet not provided with Holdings. Ex-Service men who applied before 1st December, 1920. Ex-Service men who applied after 1st December, 1920. Civilians. Total. Wales and Monmouth. Anglesey 40 — 8 48 Brecon 44 23 27 94 Cardigan — — 1 1 Carmarthen — 39 32 71 Carnarvon 25 — 10 35 Denbighshire 9 — 138 147 Flint 6 18 104 128 Glamorgan 68 2 22 92 Merioneth 3 30 46 79 Monmouth 27 10 17 54 Montgomery 11 42 98 151 Pembroke 111 65 97 273 Radnor 103 — 76 179 County Boroughs 1 — — 1 Total Wales and Monmouth. 448 229 676 1,353 Total England and Wales. 4,792 1,324 4,325 10,441 NOTE.—Any Ex-Service Men who desired to avail themselves of the preference given to such men over Civilians under the Land Settlement Scheme were required to send in their applications before the 1st December, 1920.