asked the Minister of Agriculture approximately how many German prisoners of war will be engaged in agricultural work at the end of September, 1947, and at the end of September, 1948; and what steps are being taken to fill the gap in agricultural manpower caused by their repatriation.

I expect that the number of prisoners of war working in agriculture in Great Britain at the end of September, 1947, will be about 110,000, and that by September, 1948, the great Majority will have been repatriated. Plans are being prepared by my Department, in consultation with the other Ministries concerned, for recruiting labour from various sources towards the requirements of the new food production targets for the next few years which were announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in the course of the Debate on 6th August.

While welcoming whatever is done to speed up the repatriation of prisoners, may I ask my hon. Friend if he is satisfied that the recruitment from all the various sources will, on the present showing, be sufficient to fill this gap?

I assure the hon. Member that this is a matter which is engaging our every attention at the moment. We are preoccupied in placing European volunteer workers, a process which is proceeding with reasonable success.

But are they going to occupy the camps now occupied by the prisoners? How are they to be fitted in?

At the moment there are camps in the country which the European volunteer workers are taking over, but it is true that one of the chief problems is that of accommodation.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the steps taken so far to replace repatriated German prisoners of war are totally inadequate, and that by his own figures only 4,000 Poles from the Polish Resettlement Corps and only 2,000 ordinary European volunteer workers have been placed in the first six months of this year, and is it not time for a little energy to be shown in this matter?

I am very glad to tell the hon. and gallant Gentleman that a considerable improvement has been made since then, and that the figure now runs in the region of 10,000. Having regard to the short time since the European voluntary workers arrangement was made, that is pretty good going.

Mr. Baldwin:

Is not the hon. Gentleman aware that instead of slave labour, what we want to employ is regular British farm labour, and can he say whether an effort will be made to get agricultural cottages built in the country, because 200,000 men are needed on the land?

I entirely share the hon. Gentleman's view as to the desirability of getting the greatest possible number of British workers employed regularly on our farms. That is a common aim which we all share. My own Ministry is, in contact with the farmers' organisations, considering how best this part of the problem can be met, and we are fully alive to the importance of housing in this matter.

May we know what are the sources from which the Government hope to recruit agricultural labour?

As I have already said, there are various sources of alternative supplementary labour——

Foreign?

Yes, they include European volunteer labour.

Have the Government considered the fact that there are already 65,000 Poles who cost us £10 a month each and are doing nothing, and are they not going to use these people for some useful purpose?

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that so far as my Department is concerned, we have certainly done everything we possibly can to encourage the Poles to work in British agriculture, and there are facilities available to them at the moment in this connection.