asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much agricultural land in Essex has been acquired by Dutch and other foreign purchasers during the past five years.

The purchase of land by foreign nationals was one of the matters which were considered by the Northfield committee of inquiry into the acquisition and occupancy of agricultural land.The committee concluded that foreign ownership accounted for just over 1 per cent. of the total area of agricultural land in Great Britain but it did not give any figures for Essex.