§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) whether those holdings which are dealt with as individual units in the published statistics, but for which no farmers, partners or directors are returned, are occupied by persons returned as farmers, partners or directors for other holdings, or whether they are separately occupied by farmers who are not returned at the census;
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of independently occupied farm businesses, whole-time and part-time, 598W excluding businesses which are run by persons counted as the occupiers of other farm businesses in England for each year from 1971 to date;
(3) why there is a discrepancy between the total number of agricultural holdings for which returns are made at the June agricultural census and the number of holdings which return farmers, partners and directors at the same census.
§ Mr. StrangFarmers, partners and directors of multiple holdings are required to include themselves only on one return in the census. In addition, on some returns, they may appear as workers. The number of farmers, partners and directors returned will, therefore, not equate with the total number of holdings returned. I have made no estimate of the number of independently occupied holdings excluding businesses run by persons counted as the occupiers of other farm businesses.