HC Deb 24 June 1954 vol 529 cc570-1
17. Mr. Bullard

asked the Minister of Agriculture why no annual report has been issued by the Commissioners of Crown Lands since June, 1939.

Sir T. Dugdale

This, in common with other annual reports, was suspended as part of the general drive for economy during the war and has not since been resumed.

Mr. Bullard

Would not my right hon. Friend agree that this is a very autocratic body? As it administers 370,000 acres of State land, the least it might do is to produce a Report. Apparently the administration is carried out almost entirely by one permanent Commissioner. Will the Minister cause a Report to be issued and let us have in it a list of all the Crown receivers? And may that list not contain the name of Messrs, Sanctuary and Son?

Sir T. Dugdale

Those supplementaries go far beyond the Question, but I would like to say that the Commissioners of Crown Lands are very anxious to publish a Report. As recently as 1951–52 they prepared an omnibus Report covering the eight years to 31st March, 1950, but after consultations with the Treasury about the printing and publication, it was considered that, in view of the continued need for economy, the Report should not be printed.