HC Deb 11 July 1950 vol 477 cc1114-5
3. Mr. Deedes

asked the Secretary of State for War the acreage of land held on requisition by his Department.

12. Brigadier Medlicott

asked the Secretary of State for War the total acreage of land now occupied by his Department in Great Britain.

Mr. Strachey

On 31st March, 1950, the War Department held some 167,000 acres on requisition. A further 343,000 acres were owned or leased, making a total of 510,000 acres. In addition, the Department, under Defence Regulation 52, had the right to use without permanent occupation 255,000 acres.

Mr. Deedes

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether this represents any appreciable reduction in the last 12 months, and is he satisfied that the machinery for keeping this matter under review is working as searchingly and as powerfully as it ought to be?

Mr. Strachey

It represents a reduction of about 9 per cent. since last October, and it is steadily coming down. After all, it has come down by over 10 million acres, or 93 per cent. since the war.

Sir Peter Macdonald

Has the Minister thought of growing groundnuts on some of this land?

Mr. Gibson

Can my right hon. Friend say how much of the land still held by the War Office was requisioned as early as the First World War?

Mr. Strachey

Not without notice.

4. Mr. Deedes

asked the Secretary of State for War how many persons are in receipt of payments in respect of land held on requisition by his Department.

Mr. Strachey

On 31st March, 1950, the War Department held some 5,350 separate requisitions. Since two or more requisitions are often held from one owner, the number of persons receiving payments would have been considerably less. I regret that exact figures are not readily available.

Mr. Deedes

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, particularly among small owners some hardship is being experienced in view of the difficulty of getting claims reviewed, and will he sympathetically bear in mind the claims of small people who are trying to get their land back, particularly for agricultural purposes?

Mr. Strachey

I realise the urgency of that. We are often met by the conflicting claims of other families who have "squatted" or come in on other tenancies of some kind, and we have to evict them in order to derequisition. The two claims often conflict.

Mr. Geoffrey Cooper

In cases where there is no intention of giving up such land as has been requisitioned, will the claims of the owners who have been dispossessed of their land be paid?

Mr. Strachey

We shall, of course, have to make financial arrangements in those cases.