§ Mr. Sharpasked the Minister of Agriculture what are the names, addresses and qualifications of the members of the West Riding Agricultural Executive Committee; how many times have they met during the last six months; and what is the procedure whereby an aggrieved farmer may have a full and open investigation made of his complaints of victimisation.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsThe West Riding Agricultural Executive Committee was constituted under the Agriculture Act, 1947, on 16th February, 1948, and has met three times. The former war agricultural executive committee met 36 times during the previous six months. I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend a list of the names, addresses and qualifications of the members of the new committee.
Apart from the matters for which statutory provision is made, any farmer who considers that he has a grievance is entitled to make representations to the agricultural executive committee who would consider them and, according to the circumstances, invite the farmer to state his case to them in person or arrange for a member or members of the Committee to visit him. In addition, my Department would be prepared to investigate any case where it appeared that a farmer had a legitimate complaint against the actions of a committee.