HC Deb 17 October 1991 vol 196 cc240-3W
Dr. David Clark

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of hectares and percentage for tenanted agricultural land in each county or Scottish region of the United Kingdom for 1980 and for the current year.

Mr. Gummer

The table gives the number of hectares and percentage for tenanted agricultural land for each county of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and for each region in Scotland for 1980 and 1990, the latest year for which data are available. However, it should be noted that Northern Ireland's land tenure system is not generally comparable with that of Great Britain.

1980 1990
County Total area (000 hectares) Percentage of total area rented Area of land rented (000 hectares) Total area (000 hectares) Percentage of total area rented Area of land rented (000 hectares)
Devon 519.6 30.3 157.6 514.0 25.8 132.4
Dorset 199.5 45.6 90.9 198.3 40.1 79.5
Gloucestershire 205.2 35.3 72.5 204.6 30.5 62.5
Somerset 280.4 37.5 105.2 276.6 29.1 80.6
Wiltshire 275.8 42.7 117.7 269.5 37.9 102.0
Hereford and Worcester 317.0 35.1 111.3 314.6 28.9 90.9
Shropshire 287.1 38.6 110.7 288.7 32.2 92.9
Staffordshire 199.2 40.5 80.6 198.0 32.7 64.7
Warwickshire 159.2 38.5 61.3 156.2 32.7 51.1
West Midlands 19.7 53.3 10.5 16.6 44.2 7.3
Cheshire 172.4 44.6 76.9 168.2 37.3 62.7
Greater Manchester 41.8 56.3 23.5 42.1 43.3 18.2
Lancashire 222.2 53.5 118.9 221.7 47.1 104.5
Merseyside 19.9 57.8 11.5 20.3 51.9 10.5
England 9,442.0 43.6 4,120.3 9,351.0 37.4 3,493.1
Clwyd 177.7 33.4 59.3 179.1 28.3 50.6
Dyfed 458.7 23.5 107.9 457.9 18.2 83.2
Gwent 84.1 31.1 26.2 82.5 24.9 20.5
Gwynedd 292.2 37.3 108.9 296.6 30.3 89.9
Mid Glamorgan 50.8 37.4 19.0 49.0 31.6 15.5
Powys 366.0 28.1 103.0 367.3 22.5 82.5
South Glamorgan 24.8 42.0 10.4 24.8 38.5 9.5
West Glamorgan 36.4 30.6 11.1 36.0 26.0 9.4
Wales 1,490.8 29.9 445.7 1,493.2 24.2 361.1
England and Wales 10,932.8 41.8 4,566.0 10,844.2 35.5 3,854.3

Note: Estimates for minor holdings are not included.

Source: June 1980 and 1990 MAFF PSM Statements.

Scotland
1980 1990
Region Total area '000 hectares Percentage of Total area rented Area of land Rented '000 hectares Total area '000 hectares Percentage of Total area rented Area of land Rented '000 hectares
Borders 395.3 52.1 205.9 386.4 51.5 199.0
Central 208.8 43.4 90.5 197.1 40.1 79.0
Dumfries and Galloway 470.3 47.6 223.8 443.2 43.3 191.9
Fife 98.1 41.7 40.9 98.2 33.9 33.3
Grampian 634.9 39.8 252.5 627.9 38.2 240.0
Highland 1,780.1 38.5 685.3 1,689.1 35.1 592.1
Lothian 131.8 44.1 58.1 125.0 37.8 47.2
Strathclyde 1,017.9 40.2 409.6 918.5 36.4 334.0
Tayside 642.1 46.5 298.8 621.1 42.7 265.0
Islands 200.2 48.1 96.3 194.0 43.4 84.1
Scotland 5,579.4 42.3 2,361.8 5,300.3 39.0 2,065.7

Notes:

Source: June 1980 and 1990 Agricultural Census for Scotland.

The area of rented land in the Western Isles in 1980 has been estimated.

Estimates for minor holdings are not included.

1980 1990
Total area '000 hectares Percentage of Total area rented Area of land rented '000 hectares Total area '000 hectares Percentage of Total area rented Area of land rented '000 hectares
Great Britain 16,512.2 42.0 6,927.8 16,144.5 36.7 5,920.0
Northern Ireland
1980 1990
County Total area '000 hectares Percentage of total area rented Area of land rented '000 hectares Total area '000 hectares Percentage of total area rented Area of land rented '000 hectares
Antrim 217.9 19.9 43.4 211.6 21.8 46.1
Armagh 99.0 17.5 17.4 93.7 19.1 17.9
Down 187.3 23.9 44.7 176.8 26.6 47.0
Fermanagh 131.7 15.1 19.8 125.7 16.0 20.1
Londonderry 163.5 20.4 33.3 157.4 23.1 36.3
1980 1990
County Total area '000 hectares Percentage of total area rented Area of land rented '000 hectares Total area '000 hectares Percentage of total area rented Area of land rented '000 hectares
Tyrone 254.9 15.0 38.2 248.3 16.7 41.4
NORTHERN IRELAND 1,054.3 18.7 196.8 1,013.6 20.6 208.8

Notes:

Source: June 1980 and 1990 Agricultural Census for Northern Ireland. Separate statistics are not collected on the numbers and areas of the farms which are leased; the figures above are for agricultural land which is let on a very short-term basis, commonly for 11 months ("in conacre").

General Note: Totals may not necessarily agree with the sum of their components due to rounding.