§ Mr. Welshasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what steps he is taking to monitor the use of lime now that the previous method of doing so through subsidy claims is no longer available;
(2) what figures he has to show the quantitive and qualitative effects on Scottish farmland of the withdrawal of lime subsidy.
§ Mr. Hugh D. BrownThe agricultural lime subsidy ceased to be paid on deliveries of lime made after 30th September 1976. Grants towards the application of lime are still available under the Capital Grants and Crofting Grants Schemes. Arrangements have been made to obtain information about the costs and668W uptake of lime used on Scottish farms through the continuing sample field enquiry undertaken by my Department. The advisory services of the colleges of agriculture are also carrying out a monitoring exercise on levels of application of lime and my Department's technical officers will keep in touch with the colleges regularly.
Insufficient time has yet elapsed to enable a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the effects of the withdrawal of the subsidy to be attempted.