HL Deb 21 January 1976 vol 367 cc634-5WA
Lord BURTON

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is:

  1. (a) the total of all crofting rents;
  2. (b) the total of all crofting rents belonging to the Secretary of State for Scotland;
  3. (c) the cost of administering the Crofters Commission, excluding grants and loans issued by them;
  4. (d) the total cost of grants and loans administered by the Crofters Commission and the Department of Agriculture to crofters;
    5. 635
  5. (e) the cost of running the Land Court;
  6. (f) the proportion of Land Court expenditure attributable to crofting; and
  7. (g) the number of crofts sub-let in whole or in part.

Lord KIRKHILL

The information asked for, where available, is given below:

  1. (a) it is not possible to give a total for all crofting rents currently payable since the Crofters Commission are not notified of revisions of rents;
  2. (b) £50,000;
  3. (c) £210,000 in 1974–75;
  4. (d) £4.2 million in 1974–75, excluding calf subsidies payable to crofters, which cannot be readily estimated;
  5. (e) £115,000 in 1974–75;
  6. (f) this information is not available as no separate record is kept of expenditure attributable solely to crofting;
  7. (g) an average of 134 sub-lets has been approved annually by the Crofters Commisssion but it is not possible to give an accurate figure of the number of crofts which are currently sub-let since the termination of sublets is not notified to the Commission.