§ Mr. Fowlerasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government why no accurate records have previously been kept in his Department of the area of agricultural land developed for housing, year by year, and county by county; and whether such records will be kept in the future.
§ Mr. WilleyLocal planning authorities are responsible for the control of development in detail and will have such information about the amount of land taken for development as is necessary to enable them to discharge their functions. The development plans submitted to my right hon. Friend indicate in broader terms the land which it is expected will be taken in the future. It has not, however, been found necessary to analyse these sources in order to show precisely how much land in any local authority area has been taken from agriculture each year for housing. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, however, for his purposes maintains records of the amount of land in various classes of agricultural use county by county. Losses of agricultural land for development are covered by these figures but they do not show specifically how much land has been taken from agriculture for housing. My right hon. Friend, the Minister of Housing and Local Government is considering what improvements in statistics about land use are necessary.