§ Sir G. Foxasked the Minister of Agriculture how much money is annually devoted to subsidise the Land Girl Movement; and whether post-war plans contemplate the continuance of this assistance.
Mr. HudsonThe Women's Land Army is not, as the form of the Question suggests, an independent movement subsidised by the Exchequer. The organisation is part of my Department and the whole cost of it falls on public funds. This amounted in the financial year 1943–44 to £1,290,900. I am not yet able to make any statement about the post-war position of the Women's Land Army, but it will be necessary, in order to maintain essential food production, to retain this organisation for a considerable time after the defeat of Germany.