§ 71. Sir F. FLANNERYasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture if he can state the number of certificates which have been given under Section 1 of the Increase of Rent, etc. (Amendment) Acts, 1918, by the Board of Agriculture that premises 240 were required for the occupation of a person engaged or employed in agricultural work of urgent national importance; whether such certificates have been frequently refused although applied for; whether he is aware that great hardship has arisen to farm workers and others owing to the difficulty of finding accommodation for living at a reasonable distance near their work; whether this disability has applied to many soldiers returned from the War and has seriously interfered with the cultivation of farms in Essex; and whether the Board of Agriculture would approve of such certificates being in future granted by the county agricultural committees instead of by the Department in London?
Sir A. BOSCAWENThe number of certificates issued by the Ministry between the date of the passing of the Increase of Rent, etc. (Amendment) Act, 1918, and the date of its repeal by the Act of December, 1919, was 22. In a number of cases applications for certificates were refused, but in every instance the Ministry obtained a full report from the County Agricultural Executive Committee before coming to a decision. In reply to the third part of the question, I would remind my hon. Friend that while the Bill was under discussion, an undertaking was given by the Minister in charge that no certificate would be issued except for most urgent reasons and subject to other accommodation being available for the person proposed to be evicted. There is no doubt that the restrictions imposed by the Act causes much inconvenience in agricultural districts, but the Ministry has no information that this is specially the case in Essex. The issue of certificates ceased with the repeal of the 1918 Act, but is proposed to be revived by the Increase of Rent Bill, under which the certificates may be issued by the County Agricultural Committees as well as by the Ministry.