§ Mr. MONTAGUEasked the Minister of Agriculture what is the acreage of land in Great Britain farmed in all branches of agriculture; and how much of such acreage is owned by the Crown and other public authorities, national and local?
Mr. GUINNESS(pursuant to the reply of Major ELLIOT [OFFICIAL REPORT, 21st July, 1927; col. 568, Vol. 209] supplies the following statement containing such information as is available with respect to the area of Agricultural Land owned by the Crown and Public Authorities, National and Local, in Great Britain.
1667WNo return is available of the total area of agricultural land owned by local authorities in Great Britain, but county councils and councils of county boroughs in England and Wales own 360,770 acres under the Small Holdings Acts, as well as 4,700 acres for the purposes of agricultural education; while allotment authorities own 24,930 acres used at present for allotments. Returns received from about 60 per cent. of the local authorities in Scotland show that land held by them for agricultural or pastoral use amounts to 58,400 acres. Land acquired for small holdings in Scotland is included in the area of land owned by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland.