§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales what are the percentages of agricultural workers in service houses in Wales since the Second World War.
§ Mr. John MorrisThere are no official and separate figures for England and Wales in the form requested. Figures taken from sample inquiries carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food covering England and Wales jointly show the following approximate percentages of regular whole-time male workers receiving payments-in-kind in respect of a house in the years specified:
Year Ending Percentage 31st December 1974 55 30th September 1964 50 30th September 1954 45 30th September 1948 (first available) 34
§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales what are the percentages, by category of employment, for full-time male agricultural workers in Wales housed in service houses at the latest date for which the figures are available.
§ Mr. John MorrisI regret that information is not available separately for England and for Wales. A sample inquiry carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1974 showed the following approximate percentages, by employment category, of hired regular whole-time male workers in England and Wales receiving payments-in-kind in respect of a house:—
Per cent Foremen 71 Dairy cowmen 80 Other stockmen 62 Tractor drivers 63 General farmworkers 48 Horticultural workers 22 Other farmworkers 50
§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the percentage of men housed in agricultural service houses in Wales at the latest date for which the figures are available.
71W
§ Mr. John MorrisI regret that information is not available in the form requested, nor separately for England and for Wales. A sample carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1974 showed that approximately 55 per cent. of hired regular whole-time male agricultural workers in England and Wales received payment-in-kind in respect of a house.
§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the approximate number of full-time hired agricultural labourers living in service houses in Wales at the latest date for which the figures are available.
§ Mr. John MorrisIn the consultative document "Abolition of the Tied Cottage System in Agriculture" issued last August, an estimate was given of some 63,000 cottages in England and Wales being occupied by hired regular whole-time farm workers. Of this number, it seems likely that rather less than 2,000 are in Wales.
§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of repossession orders in agriculture in Wales at the latest date for which the figures are available.
§ Mr. John MorrisI understand from the Lord Chancellor's Department that the appropriate figure for Wales within the figures shown in Civil Judicial Statistics for 1974 was 13.