Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 February 1954.
Sir Waldron Smithers
, Orpington
12:00,
18 February 1954
asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will give the areas which were requisitioned under War Emergency Regulations, and have been acquired by him under compulsory powers granted under Section 85 of the Agriculture Act, 1947; the dates the several areas were informed of his intention to acquire; the number of owners and occupiers involved in each area; the acreage in each area involved; the number who appealed to the Agricultural Land Tribunal; and the number of these whose appeals were upheld.
Mr Thomas Dugdale
, Richmond (Yorks)
I am sending my hon. Friend a statement giving the information desired.
Sir Waldron Smithers
, Orpington
Does the Minister realise that the information, which I presume is supplied by these answers, would be subject to cross-examination and would be produced as evidence in an open court of English law if a dispossessed farmer had the right to appeal on points of fact and merit, whereas all we can do now is deal with the matter by Question and answer in the House?
Mr Thomas Dugdale
, Richmond (Yorks)
My hon. Friend had better wait until he sees the statement.
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.
