§ Sir R. Gowerasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that a large number of people living in the defence areas have left behind well-tended gardens with vegetables and fruit; whether his Department is taking them over; and whether he will state the procedure to be adopted in these cases by the owners?
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§ Mr. BoothbyThe reply to the first part of my hon. Friend's Question is in the affirmative. In regard to the second part, my Noble Friend has no power to take over these properties; neither would it be practicable for them to be brought under direct Departmental management. So far as evacuation areas are concerned, the matter will be dealt with by any custodians appointed under Regulation 5 of the Defence (Evacuated Areas) Regulations, 1940, and the relations between the custodians and absent householders will be such as may be settled within the framework of these Regulations. In the defence areas, which have not been declared to be evacuation areas, the disposal of the produce rests with the owners of the gardens, and from inquiries which he has made, my Noble Friend has no reason to believe that more than a comparatively small number of such owners have left their homes without making arrangements for their gardens to be tended and managed in their absence.