§ 81. Major EDMONDSONasked the Minister of Agriculture the number of counties in which conciliation committees exist and are operating satisfactorily; whether he proposes to call such committees into existence where there are none; whether the method of election will remain as now when the decisions of these bodies are registered; and when legal effect will be given to this new development?
§ The MINISTER of AGRICULTURE (Sir Robert Sanders)Agreements made by conciliation committees are in operation in 16 counties, but committees to the number of 63 have been set up in every county in England and Wales, and as, in several counties, meetings of the committees are being arranged, I hope the 1613 number of agreements in force will soon be increased. With regard to the third and fourth parts of the question, the terms of the Bill dealing with the compulsory registration of conciliation committee agreements are at present under consideration, and I am not yet in a position to say when it will be introduced.