Mr. J. Enoch Powellasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the differences between the procedures in Northern Ireland and Great Britain for claiming agricultural grants; and if he has any proposals for eliminating these differences.
§ Mr. ButlerProcedures throughout the United Kingdom are the same except that in Great Britain all claims for grant under the agriculture and horticulture grant scheme and farm capital grant scheme are subject to some form of check including, where appropriate, field inspections of the completed work on which grant is being claimed, whereas in Northern Ireland all claims for grant are subject to a field inspection of the completed work before grant is paid.
This variation in procedure is necessary in Northern Ireland to cater for local circumstances and I do not propose to amend the procedure at this time.