§ 54. Sir John Mellorasked the Minister of Agriculture why notice of the making of the Transit of Animals (Amendment) Order, which came into operation on 27th August, 1947, was not given until 5th September, 1947; why printed copies were not available before 17th September; and how many persons were prosecuted under this Order for offences alleged to have been committed before 5th and 17th September, respectively.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsI regret that earlier notice was not given of the making of this Order and the delay in obtaining printed copies, which was due to the pressure of 830 other printing work at the time. I may say, however, in reply to the last part of the Question, that no action of any kind was taken under the Order until it had been published by local authorities after 17th September.
§ Sir J. MellorWill the right hon. Gentleman say why, in these circumstances which he has described, this Order was made to come into operation more than 10 days before anyone could find out that the Order had been made, let alone what its contents might be?
§ Mr. WilliamsI have already told the hon. Member that the Order was made on about 5th September, and that it was not printed until 10 days later due to pressure on printing facilities.