§ 27. Mr. Snaddenasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give instructions to the agricultural executive committees that reports of inspections by officials of the Department of Agriculture for Scotland for the purposes of any enactment authorising payment of grants or subsidies shall be accepted by a committee only if an inspection has been carried out by a member of the committee, concurrently with or subsequent to, that made by the official.
§ Mr. WoodburnNo. In view of the many other tasks to be undertaken by the new Area Committees, it has been decided that they could not deal with the many thousands of applications for grants and subsidies which come forward in each area. Certification of claims will, therefore, be undertaken in future by Departmental inspectors, except in the case of marginal agricultural production grants which will continue to be administered by committees. Committees will, of course, be consulted in doubtful cases where knowledge of local circumstances may be the deciding factor.