§ Q1. Mr. Boyd-Carpenterasked the Prime Minister what has been the total cost to public funds of his decision in 1964 to set up a separate Ministry of Land and Natural Resources; and what saving in annual cost of Ministerial and official salaries, respectively, will be derived from his decision to end this Department's separate existence.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)If, as I assume, the right hon. Gentleman is concerned with the cost of establishing the Department rather than the implementation of Government policies for which it was responsible, the cost was about £170,000. The answer to the second part of the Question is £875. No precise answer can be given to the third part of the Question, but the saving is probably of the order of £80,000 a year.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterDoes the fact that the Prime Minister abolished this Department—which he created—after a very short life indicate that he accepts that it was a mistake to create it?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. Certainly not. I have been asked that question before and I have answered it. Although I know that the right hon. Gentleman is very allergic to the Land Commission proposals, which are now the law of the land, they have saved the taxpayer many millions of £s—[Interruption.]—because of the levy on land speculation and savings in costs to local authorities and the Government when they buy land. The right hon. Gentleman is also allergic to the leasehold proposals, which he thinks are legalised robbery. But these have been very fine returns for the work of the Ministry.
§ Mr. RipponWhy did not the Prime Minister take the opportunity of the merger to reduce the size of what is now the largest Government in the world? How can he talk of savings when the cost of administering the Land Commission will be at least £4 million a year?
§ The Prime MinisterWe have debated this matter thoroughly. The right hon. and learned Gentleman has still not got into his head the fact that as long as land speculation, which was not only encouraged but started by previous Conservative Administrations—[HON. MEMBERS: "Started?"]—yes, when they abolished the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947. The cost of that to the Government, local authorities and owner-occupiers was so great that we have had to deal with the matter by these measures. The new Government will be responsible for all these very beneficial pieces of legislation which this Ministry introduced.