§ Mr. Kenneth Carlisleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the land purchases for which the Nature Conservancy Council has given or offered support in the present financial year; and what percentage of the overall cost the Nature Conservancy Council's grant represented in each case;
(2) if he will list the applications made by voluntary bodies to the Nature Conservancy Council for grant towards the purchase of sites of special scientific interest land since April 1983, that were subsequently refused support, and the reasons for their rejection.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI regret that the information is not immediately available. I shall write shortly to my hon. Friend and arrange to place in the Library the details of land purchases and applications made by voluntary bodies to the Nature Conservancy Council.
§ Mr. Kenneth Carlisleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will increase the Nature Conservancy Council's grant-in-aid so that the Nature Conservancy Council can further assist the purchase of sites of special scientific interest land by voluntary bodies.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI have already announced an increase of £2.55 million in the Nature Conservancy Council grant-in-aid for 1984–85, subject to the approval of Parliament of the necessary supplementary estimate. The provision for their grant-in-aid for 1985–86 will be increased to £22.7 million, again subject to the approval of Parliament. This represents an increase of £7 million, or 45 per cent. over the original provision for 1984–85, much of which will go to assist site safeguard. It is for the Nature Conservancy Council to decide how precisely to allocate the resources available to them.