§ 40. Lieut.-Colonel Heneageasked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in the case of a catchment board submitting a 3060 major scheme of works to him for his approval under Section 55 of the Land Drainage Act, 1930, with a view to obtaining a grant under that Section, he will, before approving or disapproving the plans, sections, and other necessary particulars put forward by that board, be prepared to call for further advice from consulting engineers skilled in land drainage problems if the advice tendered to him by his technical staff differs materially from that tendered to the catchment board concerned by its engineers?
§ The Minister of Pensions (Mr. Ramsbotham)No, Sir. My right hon. Friend could not agree to give such an undertaking as my hon. and gallant Friend suggests, which would be contrary to the recognised procedure under which Government grants are made to local authorities.
§ Lieut.-Colonel HeneageWill the hon. Member take into consideration that the Ministry of Transport in almost analogous cases does adopt this procedure and will he not further consider that as they have only had a certain amount of experience of the working of the Act, the procedure which I suggest should be adopted?
§ Mr. RamsbothamThe final responsibility must rest with the Ministry of Agriculture, which is guided by its own experts. What my hon. Friend suggests is, in fact, to set up certain persons to arbitrate between the Minister of Agriculture and the local authorities if there is any disagreement.