§ Lord MELCHETTasked Her Majesty's Government:
340WAWhether they will list, at 1979 prices, the total amount given by way of grant-aid under the relevant national and EEC schemes in each of the last 10 years in Norfolk for field drainage carried out on non-arable land with the intention of producing land capable of being used for arable farming, or for the nearest equivalent category of land drainage for which statistics are available.
The MINISTER of STATE, MINISTRY of AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES and FOOD (Earl Ferrers)I regret that no statistics are available of grant payments for field drainage where there will be a change from non-arable to arable farming nor is there a realistic price index for land drainage work. The total amounts of grant-aid paid in respect of land drainage in Norfolk since the commencement of the Farm Capital Grant Scheme and the Farm and Horticulture Development Scheme are shown below.
FCGS FHDS £ £ 1971 91,200 — 1972 398,007 — 1973 452,764 — 1974 489,414 — 1975 351.861 5,585 1976 345,227 7,487 1977 401,473 35,172 1978 557,007 132,674 1979 515,300 192,720 Grants for field drainage were available before 1971 but I regret that the amounts paid in respect of Norfolk are not available.
House adjourned at fourteen minutes past nine o'clock.