§ Mr. Grimondasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what assistance is being given to increase the crofting grants in view of the higher prices of seeds and fertilisers.
§ Mr. William Ross:Crofter cropping grants form only part of the assistance given for the production of hill sheep and cattle on crofts and must therefore be seen in the light of the recent improvement in the general level of support to this sector, particularly the increases in the hill sheep subsidy and in the guaranteed prices for sheep and wool. In the case of land improvement operations, the maximum level of assistance available to crofters was considerably increased in May of last year.
The help given to crofters both for cropping and for land improvement is still 434W substantially higher than that available to hill farmers farming land of similar quality.