§ 11. Mr. Kimballasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, in view of the great value of land drainage to agriculture, he will now adopt the recommendations of the Heneage Report.
Mr. AmoryAs I informed the hon. Member for Anglesey (Mr. C. Hughes) on 20th February last, I regret that I have not yet found a sufficient measure of agreement to justify action.
§ Mr. KimballWould my right hon. Friend agree that good drainage is essential to increased production?
§ Mr. FellCan the right hon. Gentleman try to get some urgent consideration of this matter, because the position is desperate, particularly in some parts of Norfolk, where in some cases rates have suddenly gone up by 500 per cent.?
Mr. AmoryI am not clear to what my hon. Friend is referring, and I should be glad, therefore, if he would write to me on that matter.
§ Mr. G. JegerWhilst welcoming the intimation of the Minister that he thinks nothing is more important than good land drainage—I quote his words—would the right hon. Gentleman tell us exactly what he intends to do about it?
Mr. AmoryWe are giving every possible attention to it, but, as the hon. Gentleman knows, at present there is a restriction on capital development expenditure generally. Therefore, many improvements which we would dearly like to see carried out have had to be laid aside for the moment.