NICK Clegg is the first of the three major party's leaders to answer three key questions of particular relevance to Westmorland & Lonsdale voters.

The three questions, and the Liberal Democrat leader's answers, are below.

What would you do to help young people in South Cumbria who are struggling to get on the housing ladder?

I know this is a big issue. It was difficult enough for young people before, but the recession has just made it so much harder.

I’m a big fan of Tim Farron’s ‘home on the farm’ scheme; so much so that it’s now in the Liberal Democrat’s national election manifesto.

It encourages local farmers to convert underused farm buildings into affordable housing, which is then retained for local people.

It’s madness that farmers who want to do that can be blocked by the planning system, and that needs to be changed.

We also want to give councils more control over second homes.

And I think our plans to cut taxes by making sure you don’t pay tax on the first £10,000 you earn would put more money in young people’s pockets making it easier for them to save for a home.

Many local farmers are struggling to survive because of low incomes. What would you do to help and to encourage young people to enter the industry?

I find it scandalous that hill farmers earn, on average, just £1.60 an hour.

Again, Tim’s very good on this.

He’s been campaigning hard for a powerful food market regulator to make sure that giant supermarkets can’t bully local farmers, making sure they get a fair deal for their produce.

We also have plans to reform farm payments to give more help to smaller, family farmers.

And yes, you’re absolutely right, we must now get more young people into farming, to keep the industry alive.

That’s why we will set up a farming apprenticeship scheme so today’s farmers can pass on their skills and knowledge on to the next generation.

South Lakeland has numerous small businesses. What would you do to help them thrive in the current economic climate and in the future?

What we’ve learnt about small local businesses, from the 500 or so responses to Tim’s business survey, is that they need a break from endless, and often pointless, regulation, they need fairer taxes, and they need help from the banks, who are still starving too many hardworking businesses of reasonable credit.

Vince Cable and I are determined to get the banks lending again, not least the ones that are now owned by the state.

We’ll massively cut red tape, reversing Labour’s bad habit of regulation for regulation’s sake.

And we’ll reform business rates so they don’t put such an unfair burden on smaller businesses, also ensuring that these businesses get the relief they’re entitled to automatically.

Skills are important here too, which is why the work Tim has been doing to support both Kendal College and to save Ambleside campus at the University of Cumbria is so important.