90. Mrs. Whiteasked the Minister of Agriculture the number of smallholdings in England and in Wales in 1948 and at the present time, with the number of 268W smallholdings and the number of applicants on the waiting list in each of the Welsh counties at the present time.
§ Sir T. DugdaleThe number of statutory smallholdings in 1948 provided by local authorities is not known. On 1st October, 1949, when Part IV of the Agriculture Act, 1947, came into operation, there were 17,638 smallholdings provided by local authorities in England and 1,824 in Wales. The corresponding figures for 31st March, 1953, are 16,715 and 1,725 respectively.
The answer to the second part of the Question is as follows:
NUMBER OF SMALLHOLDINGS AND APPLICANTS ON THE WAITING LIST IN EACH OF THE WELSH COUNTIES ON 31ST MARCH, 1953 Countries Total number of holdings Number of suitable Applicants awaiting holdings Preference* Non-Preference Anglesey 192 88 15 Brecon 40 6 — Caernarvon 34 2 2 Cardigan 19 10 4 Carmarthen 126 33 7 Denbighshire 177 90 20 Flint 158 103 39 Glamorgan 211 64 46 Merioneth 96 10 20 Monmouth 144 83 19 Montgomery 286 142 29 Pembroke 143 — — Radnor 68 26 8 County Boroughs 31 20 — Total 1,725 677 209 * "Preference" means applicants who at the time of their application are employed under a contract of service as agricultural workers, or who under regulations made by the Minister are to be treated as if they were then so employed—see Section 52 (3) of the Agriculture Act, 1947.