Viscountess Astorasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will state the date on which a food production Department was set up in his Ministry and the date on which county agricultural committees were first asked to hold a meeting to discuss plans for food production?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithNo food production Department of the Ministry has been set up, as was the case in the last war, but preparations for food production in war time were made as part of the Ministry's general peace-time duties. An essential part of this preparatory work was the selection of chairman-designate, prospective executive officers and members of the County War Agricultural Executive Committees and informal meetings were held in the early part of the year with a view of considering organisation, etc.
On 25th August, 1939, the date on which the Defence Regulations were made under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939, each chairman-designate was asked to summon an informal meeting or informal meetings of prospective members and the prospective executive officer for the purpose of considering and overhauling the administrative and executive machinery which would be required to function in the event of war.
The Cultivation of Lands Order, delegating to committees certain of the Minister's powers under the Defence 527W Regulations for increasing home food production was made on 1st September, 1939. the committees being formally constituted on the same day, and notification of the making of the Order and the appointment of the committees was issued to committees on 3rd September, the date of the outbreak of war, when the Ministry's headquarters war-time organisation began to function.