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Improvement Grants

Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture, Fisheries and Food – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 2 December 1957.

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Photo of Hon. James Lindsay Hon. James Lindsay , North Devon 12:00, 2 December 1957

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many applications for improvement grants under the Agriculture Act, 1957, have been received in North Devon; and how many have been approved.

Photo of Mr Joseph Godber Mr Joseph Godber , Grantham

I regret that figures for North Devon alone cannot be supplied without an undue amount of labour. I am, however, circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT a summary of the position regarding applications in the county as a whole.

Photo of Hon. James Lindsay Hon. James Lindsay , North Devon

Is my hon. Friend satisfied with the figures for Devon as a whole, and do they compare favourably with those in other parts of the country?

Photo of Mr Joseph Godber Mr Joseph Godber , Grantham

Devon has had a very high percentage of applications—higher than anywhere else in the country—and this has caused some delay in considering them.

Mr. T. Williams:

Can the hon. Gentleman say how many of these schemes have been approved and on which physical work has started?

Photo of Mr Joseph Godber Mr Joseph Godber , Grantham

Is the right hon. Gentleman referring to Devon?

Mr. Williams:

Yes, Sir.

Photo of Mr Joseph Godber Mr Joseph Godber , Grantham

As I have said, the figures are rather detailed and will be in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Following is the information:Up to 26th November, 1,280 applications for grant under the Farm Improvement Scheme had been received in Devon. Of these, 34 had been finally approved and in 40 more cases a statement had been sent to the applicant of the improvements the Ministry was prepared to approve. One hundred and twenty more applications were ready for approval subject to the submission of satisfactory plans, specifications or tenders. In 214 additional cases the farms have been inspected and the applications are receiving further consideration. Finally, 17 applications have been rejected and five withdrawn.

Photo of Sir Ian Fraser Sir Ian Fraser , Morecambe and Lonsdale

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made to date in the new scheme under the 1957 Act for the provision of farm modernisation grants.

Photo of Mr Joseph Godber Mr Joseph Godber , Grantham

Up to the end of October, nearly 15,000 applications had been made in England and Wales covering work estimated to cost almost £9 million. Nearly 60 per cent. of the cases had been inspected and 1,403 had been approved at an estimated cost of £1,149,000. 1,387 applications had been rejected or withdrawn. 2,700 proposals are ready for approval on production of satisfactory plans, specifications or tenders.