§ 57. Mr. Vernon Bartlettasked the Minister of Agriculture how many claims for Class B releases have been sent to his Department by the War Agricultural Executive Committees in England and Wales; how many of these claims have been brought by his Department to the Ministry of Labour; and how many of them have been rejected or held up by the Service Departments concerned.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsApproximately 1,900 applications for Class B release under the individual specialists scheme have been sent to my Department by war agricultural committees, 756 of these have been recommended to the appropriate authorities. Release has been approved in 602 cases, and 35 have been rejected for non-compliance with the essential conditions. Decisions are awaited in the remaining 119 cases.
§ Mr. BartlettIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the discrepancy between the number of cases recommended by the committees and the number of cases sent forward by his Ministry will cause a great deal of disquiet in the country?
§ Mr. WilliamsI do not think so. The committees are fully aware that the Department can recommend only those who are recognised as specialists.
§ 58. Mr. Bartlettasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that many important claims for Class B releases for agricultural purposes are not supported by War Agricultural Executive Committees; and whether he will encourage these committees to forward to his Department all claims which will result in a useful increase of national food production.
§ 60. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture if he has now been able to issue fresh instructions to War Agricultural Executive Committees allowing them to recommend more applications for Class B releases from the Services in respect of experienced farmworkers; and if he will state the terms of these instructions.
§ 61. Lieut.-Commander Joynson-Hicksasked the Minister of Agriculture why, having regard to the gravity of the labour situation in agriculture, the War Agricultural Executive Committees have only seen fit to recommend 25 per cent. of the applications for release under Class B which have been referred to them.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsSo far it has been possible to secure the release under Class B of agricultural workers only in cases which comply with the conditions laid down by the Government for the release of "individual specialists." Most of the applications made to war agricultural executive committees do not comply with these essential conditions, and it would accordingly be useless for committees to support them or forward them to my Department. The whole question of Class B releases for agriculture has, however, been under consideration, and my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service hopes to make a statement on the subject in the very near future.
§ Mr. BartlettBefore the Minister makes that statement, will he remind his right hon. Friend of the important part to be played in any planned agriculture by these war agricultural executive committees, and therefore, the importance of persuading the farmers that they are there to defend the interests of agriculture and not to impede them?
§ Mr. WilliamsI am constantly reminding my right hon. Friend of that.
§ Lieut.-Commander Joynson-HicksHas the number of releases absorbed the quota of Class B releases for agriculture?
§ Mr. WilliamsNo, Sir, not yet.
§ Mr. MaxtonAre the county war agricultural committees supplied with a definition of "specialists"?
§ Mr. WilliamsYes, Sir, I think every committee knows exactly what is meant by "individual specialist." He must be a person who is going to take full responsibility for a farm.