Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 8 December 1949.
Sir Waldron Smithers
, Orpington
12:00,
8 December 1949
asked the Minister of Agriculture if he can give an estimate of money owing to county agricultural committees; and what proportion of this is written off as bad debts.
Mr. T. Williams:
The debts owing to county agricultural executive committees at 31st March, 1949, the latest date for which figures are available, totalled £3,352,000. I cannot say what proportion will be written off as bad debts, but of the total charges to fanners of £96½ million from the commencement of the committees' operations to 31st March, 1949, only £22,200, or rather less than one-fortieth of 1 per cent., had been written off by that date.
Sir Waldron Smithers
, Orpington
In view of the enormous losses by these county committees and the enormous amount of money involved, and in view of the fact that these committees are the thin end of the wedge for the nationalising of the land, will the Minister scrap them?
Mr. De la Bé re:
asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will make a statement in connection with the recent resignation of some of the chairmen of the county agricultural committees; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that men of experience are retained.
Mr. T. Williams:
Three chairmen of county agricultural executive committees have resigned since 1st January last; one on the grounds of age; another because of ill-health; and the third through difficulties of an administrative nature. I am sure that the chairmen and members of county committees appreciate that the work they are doing in the national interest and for the good of the industry is as important as ever.
Mr. De la Bé re:
Does the right hon. Gentleman realise that I am a seeker after truth? Can we have an assurance from him that men in responsible positions will be retained and will not be allowed to resign because there has been unnecessary disagreement between them and Whitehall officials?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
Whitehall is a wide road that runs through the heart of Westminster, starting at Trafalgar square and ending at Parliament. It is most often found in Hansard as a way of referring to the combined mass of central government departments, although many of them no longer have buildings on Whitehall itself.
